Just a Normal Day
by sk8rgrl8624
Summary: It started out as just a normal day, until all hell broke loose. When you are a teenager living in a kids body, is there really a such thing as normal? Disclaimer: No, I don't own it...I'm a college student with no money...
1. Chapter 1

Most of this story will be from Shinichi's Point of view, unless he isn't present in a scene, or it would be better from another perspective. ...If I owned it would I be writing fantasies about it on a fanfiction site...Of course not? I would be making it happen! Sadly I am stuck with just writing it on a fanfiction site...

Shinichi POV

The day started out just like every other day. Kogoro Oji-san was whining about breakfast while Ran was cooking. I tried to tune them out and finish my 'homework', god it was so easy…Later that night Oji-san got a call from Megure-keibu; naturally I was curious so Ran and myself tagged along. Once at the crime scene I started to regret coming.

"The victim is a young woman. She appears to have a web tattoo near her eye, other than that; we don't really know anything, Mouri-san."

I wasn't really listening to the theories thrown around by Megure-keibu and Kogoro Oji-san. I was too busy scouting the area trying to find evidence I knew didn't exist. Chianti was a sniper for them and it appeared to be suicide. They wouldn't be able to prove anything.

"Ran-neechan."

"What's wrong Conan-kun?"

"I don't wanna stay here anymore. I wanna go back home."

Time to turn up the kiddy charm. I would regret it later, because Ran would want to comfort me, but I needed to get out of here in case they left anyone behind to watch the investigation.

"Conan-kun…Are you feeling okay? I usually have to drag you away from the scene…"

"Oji-san can handle this one. I'm really tired, so can we go back?"

"Sure, I'll go tell dad so wait outside for me. We'll walk back so he doesn't have to come."

"Okay, see you in a minute then."

I stepped outside and froze. Someone was watching me, but I couldn't tell who or where they were watching from. Considering who the victim was inside, I was planning for the worst. I stepped around a corner into an alley trying to see who exactly it was that was watching me, bad idea. I felt a hand on my mouth when I tried to yell out and another one around my waist. The next thing I knew, I was on top of the building adjacent to the one I had just left, standing face to face (well face to knee in this case) with myself.

"What can I help you with thief-san? I thought jewels were your targets, Nakamori-keibu will be upset if he figures out that you tried to steal a kid."

"Well tantei-kun, I need your help. I assume you're here because of the case in that building?"

"Yes, that doesn't answer why you're here though."

"In a way I guess it does. That woman was killed because she failed to kill me."

I was only now taking in his appearance. He was panting and it looked like he was having some issues with his balance.

"Why would she be after you?"

"T-that is a long story…tantei-san. I will tell you, but not right now. I n-need your help. That is, if you are willing to help a thief, and I'm sure that you wouldn't want to miss out on this chance. It just might help with your 'little' problem."

"What exactly are you talking about?" He appeared to sway for a moment before standing completely upright.

"Later tantei-san, will you come with me?"

"I can't go running off with a thief, especially when I don't know why you are wanting me to come with you." Ran would kill me if I disappeared again without telling her.

"Perfectly reasonable reservations. I'm not fond of being a sitting target unless I'm toying with Nakamori-san, and based on what I have observed, dressing up like Kudo Shinichi is probably not the best idea when these people are after you, whoever these people are. I still don't know how you ended up in your position, but we can swap stories after we reach a safe place. If I can convince you to come with me."

I'm sure Kid didn't miss the look on my face. It was true. I hadn't even thought about him being dressed as me with the possibility of 'them' being here, no it was more than a possibility now. I still had reservations about taking off with a thief and was set on not going with him until I saw him sway again.

"Are you okay?" It was hard not to notice that Kid's face was unusually pale, but he could have just used the wrong make-up.

"Fine tantei-kun, I'm going to change. If you still haven't decided on whether or not you will come with me by the time I'm done I will place you back on the ground and be on my way."

He didn't wait for an answer; my curiosity had already taken over. Kid was asking me for help, he was somehow involved with "them", and he appeared to be hurt, but I couldn't determine where, or how bad. When I glanced up again, Kid was wearing his usual white suit and cape, only this time a part on the right upper side of the white jacket was stained crimson. I looked up at him curiously before he moved to cover his side from my line of sight.

"Are you sure you're…"

"Come on tantei-kun, I need your answer quickly. We appear to have visitors coming and I don't want to be here when they start the welcoming party."

I looked around and saw many people gathering at the foot of the building, as well as a man (dressed in black) on another one of the building in the area. I hurried over to Kid.

"I'm not sure what you're involved in, but I know who the woman downstairs was. If you are involved with her in any way, there will be more people coming after you."

At that moment my phone rang. It was Ran.

"Ran-neechan, I ran into the detective boys outside of the building. They are on their way to Agasa-hakase's for a camping trip tomorrow. I was going to call you and tell you about it, but I got so wrapped up in the quiz that I forgot."

Ran had fallen for the lie pretty quickly, and after a few moments I was latched to the glider.I hadn't really paid much mind to where we were going, but after about ten minutes in the air we started to descend.

"Kid, are we close to our destination?" No answer. "Kid?"

"Yes t-tantei-kun, we are getting close. When we get there Jii-chan will be a bit wary of you. He doesn't know who you are, I will leave that up to you whether you decide to share that bit of information or not. For now, just let me concentrate on landing this thing."

"You've done it a million times; does it really take that much concentration?" I wonder though if he has ever landed it with two people on it.

"I'm sure you noticed earlier tantei-kun, I'm not in the best condition right now and I have a passenger. Jii-chan doesn't really like me dropping on the roof of his pool hall, but I think he will make an exception this time. If you wouldn't mind, I really need to concentrate."

"Sure thing, Kid." He really doesn't look good. From here I can't get a good look at his wound, but I know he's lost a lot of blood. His eyes didn't really look focused either. I had located the pool hall he was referring to, but instead of going directly to it, Kid circled around, most likely looking for anybody that would see him.

"Tantei-kun, I need your help."

"You already told me that, but you told me that you needed to concentrate on landing this thing first."

"No, I need your help landing it. I'm having a bit of trouble maneuvering the controls."

"You what?" What the hell was he thinking? I'd never landed a glider before!

"You've seen me land it before, right? Do you think you could?"

"Yes, I can use the controls, but my body isn't big enough to do any of the shifting we are going to need." I just hope that he can do that. If not, well, it was a good flight while it lasted.

"Don't worry tantei-kun, I can do that much. Just listen very carefully to what I say. This is going to be a rough landing anyway, I don't know if I will be able to support us both when we get down there. Once we get close enough, I'm going to unclip your belt, try not to land on your head or bite your tongue."

What the hell is he thinking? "What exactly are you going to do?"

"I'll follow right behind you tantei-kun. It might not be as smooth as usual, but it's not going to kill me. There's a hidden door near the corner of the roof. Jii-chan is used to me coming down it, he shouldn't overreact."

Okay that's great. I'm piloting a glider for the first time. I'm also going to be dropped off said glider, and then I'm going to be sneaking into a pool hall, with the Kaito Kid. And here I thought today was just going to be a normal day…Well as normal as it gets in my situation… "So, I am going to steer it down, once we get close enough you are going to drop me, and then you are going to land yourself, correct?"

"That's the plan, just remember what I said about biting your tongue when you land, let's go."

We are about 6 feet away from the building now. He should be getting ready to undo the latch.

"Alright tantei-kun, I'm about to undo it. Are you ready?"

"As ready as you can be seeing as how you are about to drop me." I wonder how bad his wounds really are. If they are too bad, he may not be able to land the glider by himself anyway, I've felt his breathing getting more and more ragged for the past few minutes…

"NOW!"

I felt the latch release and without the extra weight the glider snapped back up a few feet and then I slammed into the ground. I landed on my feet and fell into a roll before I finally caught my balance. I heard a crash behind me and when I turned around Kid was lying on the ground.

"Hey you okay?" Damn, I bit my tongue. "Kid! Are you okay?"

Damn, of course not, he was hurt god knows how badly earlier and he just crash landed a hang glider…That's why he told me where the door was. He knew he was going to crash. I need to go get Jii-san for him.

"Young Master? Is that you?" An old man, who I assumed to be Jii-san, cautiously stepped from the door Kid had mentioned earlier.

"Are you Jii-san?"

"I am," The old man replied, "and who are you exactly?"

"I'm Conan; this guy said something about needing help and then brought me here. He needs medical attention, he's hurt, but I don't know how badly." I still hadn't seen the extent of his wounds. Right as I was about to examine them, Jii-san moved in between me and Kid, took a quick look, and picked him up with seemingly no problem.

"He's been shot. It's in is upper right shoulder and doesn't look like it did any arterial damage, but he has lost a lot of blood and combined with the flight back and the crash, he isn't in good condition. I don't know who you are. You appear to be a normal grade school kid, but if the Young Master is involving you, then I would say there is more to you than meets the eye. Am I right?"

"You are right, but I'm not exactly sure how I am involved with him yet. So, can you treat him here?"

"Of course, there is a reason the Young Master has not been caught in any hospitals. He is fully equipped here."

Fully equipped? It shouldn't surprise me, he is the Kaito Kid.

"You can stand up here all you want young man, but I am going to take the Young Master downstairs and treat him. I will leave the door unlocked for you."

As the old man walked away I heard him grumbling something about crazy phantoms and crash landing on his room. I almost chuckled at it before I followed the man inside. I didn't want to wait and see if the place was being watched. If Kid was shot, it meant that the people that were showing up on his heists were done playing around and decided to get serious, or they got lucky…

"That was a wise choice, young man."

"What exactly do you mean?"

"The Young Master has very few friends, but he has no shortage of enemies. If one had caught sight of you with Young Master, then they would very likely try to remove you."

"Who exactly is after him?"

Jii set Kid on what looked like a hospital bed and began setting up different monitors to him.

"Young Master will explain what you need to know when he wakes up. I'm not sure how much you know or how much you need to know. I don't want to risk giving away something that he may not have wanted me to."

"That's understandable. Will you answer me one thing though?" He must be the Kid's accomplice. He has been seen on a few of the heists, but I never would have guessed that he was an old man.

"That depends on what it is."

"What exactly is your relationship with Kid? Why would you put yourself in danger of being arrested for him? I know Kid isn't your normal everyday thief, but I don't know what his motive for stealing is either." I'd figured out a long time ago that he wasn't just stealing to prove he could. As if the people shooting at him weren't a big flashing light. "There had to be a reason behind all the flashiness."

"All I am going to say is, I know his reasons. Even if I don't fully agree with them; he means well and he is just trying to protect those around him, even if it means risking his life."

I wasn't exactly sure what the old man was talking about, but it gave me something to think about while he was working on the Kid. I'd seen enough to realize that this was obviously not the original Kid. He was too young, around my real age, if Jii calling him young master was any proof of that. That meant that something must have happened to the first one. He could possibly be a relative or a good friend. I glanced back at the old man. He was almost finished stitching the bullet wound and several other severe lacerations from his landing. He was quick. I then turned my attention to Kid. He still had his hat and monocle on to hide his features; the old man wasn't taking any chances. His eyes were beginning to move.

"Jii-san, he is waking up. Did you give him anything for the pain?"

"No, Young Master gets upset if I give him anything that will cloud his mind. I wish he would allow me to, he is good at masking his pain, but I can tell when he is hurt. At least I finished before he woke up completely, that would have been really difficult for him."

"Jii…chan? What happened?"

"That is what I would like to know. You crash landed your glider on my roof again. Only this time, I came out on the roof and found you unconscious with a hole in your shoulder, and a grade school child standing near you. You probably won't be able to use your right arm very well for awhile."

"Haha, that's right. This makes things a bit more complicated. As for what happened, they attempted to kill me tonight. It wasn't like the previous attempts, and Snake wasn't there, or at least I didn't see him. I'm not sure what the snipers name was this time, but they killed her because she failed to kill me…"

"Chianti…Her name was Chianti. Would you mind telling me how exactly you are involved with these people and why they are trying to kill you along with why you steal. Oh, and for the heck of it how many times you have crash landed on this pool hall?"

I can't say that I was really surprised, I had noticed people shooting at Kid on his past few heists and I had my suspicions on who they were, but I had no idea why. And the way Jii said 'again' when talking about Kid crash landing, well that had my curiosity peaked. Kid glanced at me as if he had just realized I was in the room.

"Ahh tantei-kun, you managed to bite your tongue didn't you?"

I looked at him astonished. How the hell did he know that? It wasn't bad, I was sure that it wasn't affecting my words or anything.

"You bit it hard enough to make it bleed, and wiped it on your shirt."

I glanced at the sleeve on my shirt, and there it was; a tiny red tinted smear.

"Yeah, I guess I did. Are you going to answer my question, or do I just need to head back home?"

I really had no intention of leaving, now that I knew that he was involved with the organization. I was just getting impatient.

"I'll tell you my story, as long as you promise that you will explain yours. If you don't want Jii-chan to know, he will leave the room, but I'm sure he is quite curious as to why I would ask a grade school kid for help against these people."

I eyed Kid and the man for a moment longer and decided that if they were in a situation with these men already, then it probably wouldn't endanger them anymore to know a little bit more.

"I'll tell you, but only after I know why you 'kidnapped' me."

"Tsk, tsk now, tantei-kun. I didn't kidnap you, as I recall you even gave Ran-san an excuse so you could go with me."

I guess kidnapped wasn't really the right word, but after the thief had said he needed help, there was going to be no way that he was going to ignore him.

"I guess you're right. Will you tell me your side of the story now?"

I was completely astonished at how much Kid actually told me. Of course he had left out his name, but he given me enough information that I could probably find out if I looked hard enough. I probably wouldn't, but I wasn't going to tell him that.

"So this gem, Pandora, is supposed to grant immortality? I guess that may explain the little predicament that I am experiencing."

"What exactly is your little predicament? I know that you aren't your 'regular' size, but why not?" Kid asked.

As I dove into the story about how Conan Edogawa came into being, Kid's eyes began to close slowly, but he would open them quickly determined not to miss a word I was saying. Jii stood in a corner shifting his glance between me and Kid; watching me out of curiosity and Kid out of concern. Jii had been against Kid sitting up, but after insisting the man finally gave in and told him that he would only allow Kid to sit up if he would at least support himself against the wall. Kid wasn't pleased with this idea, but decided it was better than lying down and not being able to see me.

"Really, that's what happened? I knew that you were Kudo, but I guess I never really expected all that."

"Young Master?"

"What's wrong Jii-chan?"

"I'm not really used to the idea of teenage boys shrinking and all, so if you don't mind I'm going to wait in the next room. So help me if you try to move from that bed…"

"No worries Jii-chan, I wouldn't want tantei-kun to use his super shoes against me."

I had left the gadgets that Agasa had made me out of my explanation, so I received a very confused look from the old man. I just smiled and brushed it off.

"Don't worry Jii-san I will make sure that he stays put."

"It still sounds weird coming out of a kid's mouth, but I will eventually get used to it."

Jii-san left the room and we could hear running water in the next room.

"Jii-chan is probably making himself some coffee, what time is it?"

"It's just about 11 at night."

I sighed. It was too late to call the professor and tell him that I would be 'camping' with him and the detective boys. He was actually taking the kids camping, but I was going to stay out on this one. I would send him a message later so he would make up a cover for me if Ran called.

"That late? Poor Jii-chan, the man runs this pool hall all day, and then I swoop in here at night and get in the way of his rest."

"I'm sure he understands, but you still haven't told me what exactly you need my help for. Just keep in mind that if you ask me to help you steal something, I'm going to walk out and pretend that this never happened."

"Harsh tantei-kun; I need your help because I recently found Pandora. I'm going to use the stone to lure our friends in black out. That is where you come in. I noticed that you have a few contacts FBI and I was wondering if you would mind asking them to help us corner the members."

I should have been at least a little surprised by the fact that Kid knew that I had contacts, and he probably knew they were FBI, but it was Kid.

"That is what they have been trying to help me do for the past two years; they even managed to get an agent into the organization. I will contact Jodie and we can begin there. I also have a few more contacts through my dad if we need the extra help."

"Going against these guys, I think we are going to need all the help we can get. Seeing as how we can't move immediately due to the fact that we don't have a full plan, and Chianti tried to turn me into Swiss cheese, would you mind posing as my little cousin for the next week or so?"

"You realize that would mean that you would be giving away your identity to me, a detective right?"

"I also realize that there is enough information in my story earlier to allow you to figure out who I am anyway."

"Hmm, good point." As if I hadn't already known that. Besides I'm kind of curious to see how the Kaito Kid is when he's not running around roof tops stealing things.

"That's true. There is just one thing I need to know before I pretend to be you cousin."

"What is that tantei-kun?"

"Your name…"


	2. Chapter 2

"That's true. There is just one thing I need to know before I pretend to be you cousin."

"What is that tantei-kun?"

"Your name…"

I thought that he would have caught at least that much, but well I guess it was late and he was almost made into, in his words, 'Swiss cheese'.

"Oh, I guess that would be an important part. My name is Kuroba Kaito; I am a high school student at Ekoda High School."

…Ekoda, could he live in a bigger hornets' nest?

"I know what you are thinking tantei-kun, but it doesn't make it harder. Actually quite the contrary, it makes it easy to know where the task force is going to be. Of course it also makes it easier being best friends with the inspector's daughter."

"What with Who? You became friends with the inspector's daughter so that you would know what the task force was up to?"

"I never said that. I was friends with her long before I found out about Kid. I wish that it didn't have to be her. Sure it would make things harder to keep track of, but maybe I wouldn't hurt her so much then…"

Wow. It seems like this has been really hard on him. I wonder how close he really is to Nakamori-Keibu's daughter. Well I will be living with him for awhile; I will get the chance to find out. I was about to continue my conversation with Kid when Jii walked back into the room holding a phone cradled between his hands.

"Young Master, you have a very important phone call."

"Crap, I forgot to call mom before we left Beika."

"Kaito Kid has to call home after his heists to check in?"

"Shut up Kudo, I don't want to hear it from you!"

"Young Master?"

"Okay, give me the phone. I might as well face it now rather than later. It will only give her time to steam."

I strained to hear what was said over the phone, but I couldn't catch much of what the other person was saying, but I followed the conversation pretty well.

"Mom, I know…I know, I won't forget to call next time…"

"I'll be back when your conversation is over Young Master."

At this point in the conversation Kid threw an evil look towards the old man in the corner. Jii just shrugged it off and went back out of the room.

"Yes, I got shot…No, it just clipped me." Kid lied, trying to calm the woman on the other line.

"Yes, I crashed the glider…No, I'm fine…I'll be there in the morning, it would look funny for me be walking around in the middle of the night with a grade schooler in tow… Yes he is going to be posing as my cousin for awhile…"

I was astonished at how he seemed to have no problem telling the woman exactly what was going on, except for the part about saying his injuries weren't serious.

"Yes mom, I'll drop him off in the morning before I head to school…Yes, I'm still going to school…Mom! I told you it wasn't that bad. Jii-chan had it fixed in no time…Yes…Okay, I'll see you in the morning…I love you too…Bye."

I was trying my hardest to bite back my amusement as I listened to the conversation between Kaito, I was going to have to get used to that, and his mother.

"Jii-chan!"

"I'm sorry young master, but I do keep a lot of things from your mother. If she found out that you had been hurt and I didn't tell her, you wouldn't have anyone to patch you up all the time."

"I understand that, but did you have to tell her that I got shot? I mean she overreacts to scratches, I didn't think that I was going to have any hearing left after she was done."

"You have to understand how she feels Young Master. She did lose Toichi-sama to these men already and now her only family is repeating his steps."

"There's just one difference Jii-chan."

"What is that Young Master?"

"You were the only one helping my dad at the time; I will be more prepared before trying to confront them."

I felt like I was intruding on something that I didn't need to know, so I turned and focused my attention on the book shelf in the corner of the room. They were mostly medical books. It appeared as if the old man had taught himself everything he needed to know to treat anything that Kaito might have come up with. After the argument died down, Jii was getting ready to leave the room again.

"Young Master, you may use this room for the night. There is a change of clothes on the cabinet in the bathroom. I assume you will be gone before I wake in the morning?"

"Yes, thank you Jii-chan. You've helped me and my dad more than you will ever know."

Jii proceeded to leave the room. When I turned around I didn't see Kaito, but I caught a glimpse of the bathroom door closing. He must have felt a need to change out of Kid's clothes as soon as possible. While Kaito was in the bathroom, it was taking longer to change his clothes due to the injuries; I located two cots in the corner of the room and set them up. After I had finished setting up the cots, Kaito emerged from the bathroom, without any trace of his being Kid whatsoever.

"So, you never answered my last question."

"What was that tantei-kun?"

"Exactly how many times have you crash landed on Jii-san's roof?"

"I don't really keep track, I'd say at least 10 times."

"10 times, it's a wonder that you haven't given the man a heart attack yet!"

"Calm down tantei-kun, Jii-chan is good at what he does. He doesn't let much of it surprise him anymore. Though he does get worried a lot…"

"You are going to have to stop calling me tantei-kun while I am pretending to be your cousin. It might make someone curious."

"You forget tantei-kun, I am Kaito Kid. I don't slip up in front of others as easily as most."

At this point both of us had made it into our separate cots. After a few more moments I heard Kaito's breathing evened out and deepened and I knew that he had fallen asleep. I followed suit not even a minute later.

The next morning I awoke to an annoying sound. It took me a second to remember where I was and even after I did, I didn't quite believe it. That is, until I found the source of the annoying sound.

"Oi, Conan-kun! It's time to wake up! We have to go or you are going to make me late for school!"

I felt rather than saw the thief's shudder.

"What is wrong with being late to school once in awhile?"

"You don't have to be there Conan-kun. Aoko will kill me if I'm late again!"

"Alright, alright, quit yelling. It's too early for that."

I believe Aoko is the name of Nakamori-Keibu's daughter. Why would he be so worried about what she would do? Oh well, I'm sure I will meet her at some point this week. It took me about 5 minutes to get ready and call Agasa. Kaito was ready before he ever woke me up. We were up so late last night, where did he get the energy?

"I'm ready…"

"Took you long enough, let's go."

It took about 15 minutes to get to Kaito's house and we were greeted at the door by his mom.

"Kaito, get in here right now!"

"Come on mom. I don't have time right now. Aoko is going to kill me if I'm late to school again today."

"Aoko-chan will have to wait. I need to see you in the kitchen now."

I followed Kaito quietly into the house, trying to stay out of sight of his mother. I glanced around the kitchen and noticed that there was a stool set in the middle of the room with an assortment of medical supplies beside it. His mother was going to check the wound for herself; she didn't believe him when he told her it was nothing.

"Mom, I told you, its fine!"

"The last time you told me you were fine and I let you go off to school, Ginzo-san had to bring you home because you had passed out on the way to school with Aoko-chan. You're just lucky that he had time to come by and pick you up. You're also lucky that he believed the little story about a magic trick gone wrong."

"…"

"Now come here and sit down. Please…"

Her voice had suddenly gotten quiet; I would have to remember to ask Kaito what had happened later. Kaito looked like he still wanted to protest against her, but he calmly walked over to the chair and sat down; with only a hint of stiffness in his shoulder.

"Take off your shirt."

Kaito shrugged off his shirt to reveal the bandages Jii had placed around his stomach, chest and shoulders to cover the bullet wound and the more serious lacerations from the glider accident. I watched as his she removed the bandages quickly but gently, as if she had plenty of practice doing it.

"Kaito…You told me it wasn't bad…"

"…It isn't as bad as it could've been…It isn't as bad a last time."

"I guess you're right, but if you don't start telling me the truth I'm going to start cooking fish for dinner."

"You wouldn't…"

"Do you want to try me?"

I was suddenly lost, fish? There was another thing to ask him about later. It amazed me how quickly the mood changed. One minute his mom was worrying over her son and the next she was playfully threatening to make him dinner…It was right after that, that she turned her attention to me, finally noticing I was there.

"Oh, hello, you must be Conan-kun, correct?"

"Uhh, yeah. How did you know my name?"

"I'm not really sure what all has happened, but when Kaito told me that he was going to have a grade school posing as his cousin I assumed it was you. I try not to pry into what Kaito does while I'm asleep, but when he goes on and on about something as rare as a grade school detective, I remember it. I am aware of my son's night job, but I don't know why you have to pose as his cousin. Especially when as far as I know you two are on opposing sides."

I pretty much dead-panned at the way she explained it to me.

"Ok then Conan-kun, it appears that we are going to have a lot of free time together while Kaito is at school, be thinking about what you would like to do, okay?"

"Umm, s-sure…"

Kuroba-san finished wrapping Kaito's wounds. As she finished I caught a glimpse of something in her eyes, worry. Kaito didn't miss it either, but just made a move to go upstairs.

"I'm going to go change into my uniform; I'll be back down in a flash."

Kaito headed up the stairs, leaving me alone with Kuroba-san in the kitchen. I glanced back at her; she was putting away the bandages and other various items she had gotten out to treat Kaito. When she finished she turned to me.

"Have you had breakfast yet Conan-kun?"

"Not yet."

"Kaito rushed out so he wouldn't be late meeting Aoko-chan didn't he."

"Um yeah, pretty much. He really didn't want to be late"

"Aoko-chan is a force to be reckoned, especially when it comes to Kaito."

Kuroba-san seemed to be a very nice woman. We continued to talk about nothing in particular when her eyes flashed towards the stairs.

"Close your eyes Conan-kun."

I didn't know why I needed to close my eyes, but something the magician said before he went upstairs came back to me. Be back in a flash…

"Kaito! What did I tell you about letting flash bombs off in the house? It is close of proximity and if one happens to malfunction it could hurt somebody!"

"Hmmm, you've never told me that."

"Well, I just did, don't let it happen again."

Even with my eyes closed I still felt some of the effects of the flash bomb, even for just a few seconds. I was curious to know how Kuroba-san knew her son was going to pull something like that. After a few seconds I deemed it safe to open my eyes. The first thing I noticed was that Kaito had his shirt on, but a few of the buttons weren't done, and he was holding his jacket in his hands still.

"Mom, I kind of need a little bit of help…"

"Why is that?"

"I can't move my right arm real well, because it pulls at the stitches, so it makes it hard to reach the top few buttons…Aoko will be here in a few minutes and I don't want to ask her for help."

"Even though you say you're fine, you can't even button your own shirt…What exactly am I going to do with you?"

Kuroba-san walked up to Kaito and finished the last few buttons on his shirt. Kaito's wounds hadn't appeared to be bothering him, but for him to need help just buttoning his shirt, they must have been bothering him more than he was showing.

"Aoko-chan will be here in a few minutes, what are you going to do if she notices?"

"As long as I don't do anything to upset her she shouldn't notice. The only thing that would tell her I was injured is if she actually hit me with the mop."

"You shouldn't be so mean to her. She really likes you, but you know that don't you?"

Before Kaito could answer the doorbell rang. Kaito shrugged on his black blazer careful not to move his right arm to much and headed to answer the door.

"Kaito aren't you ready to go? If you make me late again, I'm going to make you pay for it!"

"Translation, you are going to chase me around with your mop of doom…I'll be ready in just a second Aoko. I just need to grab a jacket; it's kind of cold out. Come on in, Mom's in the kitchen with my little cousin."

"Little-cousin…? Why didn't you tell that you were going to have company?"

"Do I have to tell you everything? It was kind of last minute. He just got here this morning?

Aoko came into the kitchen, while Kaito went upstairs to retrieve his jacket. She glanced at me before leaning down to my level.

"You're kind of cute, what is your name?"

"I'm Conan." I replied in the best little kid voice I could muster at the moment. I was still dead tired after last night.

"Hello Conan-kun, I am Aoko Nakamori."

After her brief introduction, Aoko turned back to Kuroba-san. It amazed me how much she looked like Ran. Of course she probably would have thought the same thing about me and Kuroba. I had noticed earlier, but didn't really give it much thought; if he would fix his hair we could have been twins.

"Kaito opened the door with his left hand. Did he do something to his right?"

She notices which hand he opens the door with? That was scary within itself, but then she even guessed that he had done something to his right arm. This must happen more often than not.

"Just slightly. Don't tell him I told you though, he was trying out a new magic trick and failed. He bruised his shoulder pretty good and it hurts him to move his arm to much. It's nothing serious though, just some bad bruising."

"Really, when will he realize that if you're going to hurt yourself doing a magic trick, it is probably best to skip that one and go to the next one?"

"He is just like his dad though…"

Kaito chose that moment to come bounding back down the stairs, jacket on, and without the flash bomb this time. Aoko griped at him a little bit about being late, if they didn't hurry; then taking special precautions not to jar his right arm, grabbed his left and pulled him out the door.

"Is he always like that?"

"Except when he is asleep, then it gets much worse. I don't know how many times I've woken up and his entire room is a different color, and his hair usually ends up matching it."

"Really?" Note to self. Do not allow Kaito to sleep in my room.

"That's my Kaito for you."

After Kaito left, Kuroba-san realized that Kaito had left without eating. She was upset about it, but she tried not to show it too much. We spent most of the day just talking and getting to know each other, we avoided the Kid subject. She wasn't sure what Kaito had told me, and she didn't want to add or contradict anything he had said. The day passed by really fast and just as smoothly; I was kind of expecting something to happen, but nothing did, at least, until Kaito returned home.

"Mom, I'm home!"

"Is Aoko-chan with you?"

"Hello Kuroba-san."

Aoko walked in right after Kaito, her face flushed (could be because of the cold) and she looked mad.

"Oh, hello Aoko-chan, are you going to stay for an after school snack today?"

I noticed Kaito flinch at this offer, but he smiled.

"I don't think I should, you have company over already and I don't think I should interrupt."

"I don't mind. I like Aoko-neesan." I spoke up; I wanted to meet the girl that could ruffle Kaito Kid's feathers.

"Kaito, is it okay with you?" Aoko glanced over at the magician with a questioning gaze.

They must have been arguing about something before they came inside.

"Aoko, you know I could never turn a lady away, a manly one or not."

"KAITO! I'm sorry Kuroba-san, on second though I will be leaving."

Aoko stormed off towards the door, mumbling something about stupid magicians, and never seeing what's right in front of them. Kaito glanced at Aoko, and then followed after her.

"Well, Conan-kun, would you like to help me prepare the snacks?"

"Uh-um yeah sure Kuroba-san pulled all the items from the higher shelves in the fridge and cabinets that we would need, damn this body, and we set to work on the Ajigonomi. Kuroba-san reached up into another cabinet, and came down with four plates.

"Is Aoko-san going to be staying after all?" I asked. It wouldn't surprise me if Kaito didn't come back at this point; she looked like she wanted to kill him.

"Aoko-chan has a fiery temper. She got that from her dad, but Kaito will do something to calm her down. He always does, he just has that effect on people. Although Aoko-chan will probably get in a few pretty good hits with her mop…"

"Her mop…? I've heard Kaito talk about it, but why a mop?" From the way everyone referred to the mop, you would think it was a weapon of mass destruction or something…Just then, I heard a crash in the other room.

"There you have it, Aoko-Chan's mop. I only hope that she was taking her anger out on something other than Kaito, but that probably isn't the case."

Aoko walked back into the kitchen and glanced back at Kaito. Her eyes looked worried; I assumed that meant that she hadn't taken her anger out on something other than Kaito. Kuroba-san didn't miss the look either, but she masked it well. Kaito followed into the kitchen favoring his right side. I'm sure he wanted nothing more than to clutch his shoulder, but that would make Aoko want to examine it, so he settled for pretending like he was fine.

"Kaito, are you okay? I told you that if you kept picking on her like that, she was going to get back at you." Kuroba-san looked genuinely concerned, but she held back the urge to go check his wounds.

"Kaito, I'm sorry. I knew you were hurt since I got here this morning, but I just got mad and…"

"Don't worry about it, it's not that bad. I'm just a little sore that's all. Besides it doesn't suit your manly features to look all worried. How did you know I was hurt?"

"Kaito! Would you please stop calling me that?" I could tell that Aoko wanted nothing more than to retrieve the mop that was still in the next room, and hit him again.

"Now Kaito, quit picking on Aoko-chan, or I'm going to let her hit you again."

"Mooom! Aren't you supposed to protect me from crazy girls?"

"No, I think that you are a special exception. I believe I have to protect all these girls from a crazy magician."

I decided it was yet again time to throw up the kiddy charm.

"Aoko-neesan, I helped Obasan make some Ajigonomi, we even fixed you a plate."

"Yes, I knew Kaito wouldn't like it, but since you were here we made something that you liked."

"Y-you made w-what?"

"Ajigonomi Kaito-niisan, don't you want some?" From what I gathered from a previous conversation, Kaito was scared of fish. I wasn't going to let this chance slip by.

"N-no th-thanks, Mom, I'll be in my room if you need me."

"Kaito, will you relax, I made you a plate without any fish in it. I might be a bit mean, but I'm not heartless."

"Th-thanks, but I don't really want to be in the same room with th-that."

"Kaito, when are you going to get over your irrational fear of fish?" Aoko asked lazily.

"I-it's only irrational to you, b-because you aren't scared of th-them." Kid threw a hateful look at the plates on the table.

"Aoko-chan, did Kaito eat lunch today at school?" Kuroba-san gave Aoko a questioning look.

"No we had korokke for lunch today, so he wouldn't even go in the cafeteria."

Uh-oh, busted. Not only had Kaito skipped breakfast, but he had also passed up lunch and was now trying to pass up an afternoon snack. I had a feeling that in combination with his injuries, he was probably in no shape to argue with his mom about eating.

"Kaito."

"Yes?"

"You haven't had anything to eat today, usually I wouldn't be too worried, but…You are going to eat something, right?"

"…"

"Kaito-niisan, you have to eat so that you will be able to show me some magic tricks later. Obasan was really careful, she made sure that none of the fish got anywhere near your plate, it is mostly rice crackers."

I was on Kuroba-san's side. He needed to eat something before he passed out. He was looking pale, but I hadn't thought about the reasons behind it up until now. As if right on cue, Kaito's stomach let out a huge rumbling sound and Aoko, let out a small laugh.

"Ha-ha…I guess I am a bit hungry…I will stay down here, but you have to promise to keep th-that away from me, or I will be gone before anyone even knew it."

"We know that Kaito, sit down and eat. Your mom and Conan took the time to make us something so the least we should do is sit down and enjoy it." Aoko wasn't looking as worried now, but she still had a small glint of worry in her eye. She knew Kaito was lying about how badly he was hurt, but she wasn't going to push it.

"Ahh…I just noticed something." Kaito looked up almost startled.

"What is it Kaito-neesan?"

He glanced at Aoko. "You never answered my question. How did you know I hurt myself?" He glanced at him mother worriedly.

"Oh. That is simple. When you opened the door earlier, you used your left hand instead of your right."

"Really, you noticed something like that?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Aoko looked like she was getting mad again.

"Well, most people don't notice details like that. It just means that you have exceptional observation abilities. Even so, how did you know I was injured? I could have been doing something else with my right hand."

"I let it slip when she asked me about it. I told her about you trying your new trick and it backfiring." Kaito's mom intervened so as not to have any contradictions in their stories.

"Moooom. I asked you not to tell her. You know she worries too much over stuff like this."

"Well someone has to worry about you since you won't do it yourself." Kaito's mom moved to collect everyone's plates.

"As long as you tell me, I won't get so mad at you. It's just that you don't ever tell me anything and in the end I end up messing something up without ever knowing it."

"Alright, alright, I promise I will start being truthful about some things."

"I guess that is all I'm going to get for now isn't it." It wasn't even a question. She looked down to where her plate had sat a few seconds before, but she appeared to be looking through the table rather than at it.

After Kuroba-san finished cleaning and putting away the dishes, Aoko thanked Kuroba-san and said her farewells giving one last passing glance at Kaito before she left. Kaito and I thanked Kuroba-san and went upstairs. We needed to start planning how exactly we were going to draw 'them' out. I had called Jodie-sensei and my dad earlier that day, as well as Hattori, to inform them that we were going to move soon. Hattori insisted on being present for the planning, so we made plans to meet him at my house, my real house, around 6.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: I tweaked chapter 1 and 2 only slightly. The only real difference, I think, is that Kaito's mom doesn't know that Conan is Kudo.

After Kuroba-san finished cleaning and putting away the dishes, Aoko thanked Kuroba-san and said her farewells giving one last passing glance at Kaito before she left. Kaito and I thanked Kuroba-san and went upstairs. We needed to start planning how exactly we were going to draw 'them' out. I had called Jodie-sensei and my dad earlier that day, as well as Hattori, to inform them that we were going to move soon. Hattori insisted on being present for the planning, so we made plans to meet him at my house, my real house, around 6.

"So what exactly do you have in mind Kaito-san?"

"I was hoping that you would have an idea. I don't think that you would like mine."

"Why is that exactly?" I threw the magician a questioning look. He pulled out a few items from his pockets and started juggling them.

"Kaito Kid has always been more direct then you average guy. I think I should send out a heist note revealing the fact that I have the gem's location."

"I thought you said you already found the gem?"

"I have found it tantei-kun, but I haven't retrieved it yet. I would have no leverage against them then. They would focus more on figuring out who I was, and it wouldn't take a lot of brains for them to link me to my dad. I've just been lucky so far that they never checked to see if Toichi had a son." Kaito's eyes darkened for a fraction of a second, and then they were clear again; fast enough that I almost doubted that I had even seen it in the first place, almost.

"So you want to send out a heist note, practically saying 'I found the jewel, come take it if you can.' Right?"

"Pretty much, but I don't want them looking into who I am. That would put my mom, Nakamori-Keibu, and Aoko in danger."

"Does Nakamori-Keibu now that these people are after you?"

Kaito glanced at me without ever skipping a beat with the various items he was juggling.

"No, he knows that someone has taken shots at Kid before, but he doesn't know who or why."

"He might be able to help if you told him."

"Ha! Nakamori-san has a problem with underestimating people. He would most likely rush in without knowing all the facts and get himself killed."

I thought on this for a few minutes while watching the magician continue to juggle even more items being pulled from various hiding place on his person.

"You don't have to tell him everything. Just tell him that there are people who want to stop you at any cost and he needs to keep an eye out for his men. Assure him that you will take care of them, legally. Tell him that you will turn them in when you catch them, but also tell him that they are just a few street thugs and he needs to keep his focus on you, or you will get away again."

"I get it. As long as he doesn't think that they are a threat, he will try to chase me, rather than them. Throwing in a few taunting words will just better serve that. This way he will keep his attention focused on me, but he will be aware of anyone else coming on or leaving the scene. I'm going to have to get used to intelligent thought coming from someone so small." My eye twitched at his comment, but I made no remark.

Kaito made sure to tell his mother that he would be staying at my house for a while before we left. It wasn't a long walk to my house; it had only taken us about 10 minutes to get there. Hattori was waiting by the front gate when we arrived. Kaito had not wanted to go as himself to meet the other detective, so he settled on the next best thing…me.

"O-okay, either Haibara-san really likes dressin' up as you, or I missed somethin'." Hattori glanced back and forth between me and Kid, waiting for an explanation.

"I'm down here, Hattori. I'll explain what I can when we get inside." I handed the key off to Hattori, seeing as how in my current state, I couldn't even reach the locks on my own gate. Once inside the questions that Hattori had been holding in spewed for like a volcano.

"Who 's that, an' why the heck is he dressed up like you? Is he involved wi' them…"

"Hattori! I said I would explain, so would you sit down and listen for a few minutes?"

He listened well enough. But I didn't get far before he exploded again.

"What the heck do ya' mean, he is Kaito Kid? Why are ya' with 'im?" He then turned his attention to the thief. "You didn' kidnap him did ya'? Are you part of them?"

"No, Hattori-san. If I kidnapped him would he be here meeting you? If you would listen to what tantei-kun was trying to tell you, you would know that I came and asked him for help. For reasons I don't feel like voicing to you right now, I need his help to take down this organization. He can explain everything to you. If you don't mind tantei-kun, I'm going to rest a bit. I didn't get as much sleep as I had wanted to, all things considered."

I had begun to wonder how the thief was still coherent after last night, and today. I had snuck in a nap while he was at school, but I'm sure he would have stayed awake to keep Aoko from attacking him with her mop. A lot of good that did, he ended up making her mad anyway and still got himself hit.

"I don't mind. Take your choice of the bedroom if you would like. None of them are being used right now anyway." I tried to hide the distaste and bitterness in my voice, but all it did was make my voice lower. The thief ignored this and left the room. Hattori shot be a questioning look, but patiently waited for an explanation.

"Damn, so even th' Kaito Kid has been affected by 'them'?"

"It seems that way."

We sat in silence for a few more minutes. It had taken me the better part of an hour to explain the situation with all the Osakans interruptions. I had left out anything that might give away Kid's identity; I hated hiding anything from Hattori, but it wasn't my secret to tell.

"What are ya' guys plannin' to do?"

"Kid is planning to send out a heist note for the gem, when he does we will have the FBI, along with some of my dad's contacts from America, set in place and we will try to at least capture whoever is taking shots on Kid."

"Ya' said the guys name was Snake, right? I thought all these guys had alcohol code-names?"

"I think that there is a possibility that he isn't ranked high enough to have received a code name, or his name was possibly Sake, but somehow got confused and Snake just stuck. I'm betting on the former of the two though. Considering that they knew the first Kid's identity and they killed him, but they don't know that the second is his son. If they were higher up, the family would have been the first place they checked."

I cringed at that though. What if someone higher up decided to get involved and found out who Kid was. This situation could get even more complicated very easily.

"I'm going next door. I need to talk to Haibara. Don't try anything, if you get him riled up, you may hurt him worse than he already is."

"No worries here."

He gave a smile that was as innocent as the detective could achieve. That's what scares me…I knocked on the professors' door, and heard Haibara come towards it.

"How can I help you Kudo-kun?"

"The last time I was here, you told me that you were extremely close to a breakthrough on the antidote. I need to know how much longer it will take you."

Haibara had successfully managed to recreate the drug about a month before, but all the antidotes she had managed to create up until this point would have either killed me or only lasted a few days at most.

"Don't you read your messages anymore Kudo-kun? I sent you a message last night, but you never replied."

I pulled out my phone and looked at the display. It was completely dark; my phone had died at some point, probably while we were still at Jii's.

"My phone is dead…What did you find out?"

"I found out that you are a pain in my ass."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I was looking at her with clearly confused eyes, but all she did was laugh.

"Follow me Kudo-kun."

I glared after the not so young girl for a few seconds before following her down to the basement lab.

"Haibara, I'm not interested in any temporary cures unless they are going to last me at least a month."

"You don't think highly enough of me Kudo-kun."

She reached into the desk drawer where she kept all the failed antidotes, for further study, and pulled out a blue and white capsule that was a bit bigger than your average cold pill.

"Haibara?"

"Congratulations Kudo-kun, your patience has finally paid off. I don't advise you take it just yet because you aren't very good at the keeping yourself hidden part of this situation yet, and you will also need to take this before you take the antidote."

She held up another pill slightly smaller than the other, and red and white instead of the blue. I fumbled for words, but I just couldn't get any out. She had created an antidote just in time for me to help Kid take out the organization. I was just wondering one more thing.

"H-Haibara…What exactly does this pill do?" I asked referring to the red and while pill she had just handed to me.

"It will give you the symptoms of a severe cold. I thought back to your little incident with Hattori and realized that the only reason that the liquor had such an effect on you was because you had a severe cold that weakened you immune system. So I figured that if I found a way to weaken you immune system and then find a way to make the alcohol in the other pill to cling to the poison in your body, then you would be able to return to your own body. After you do, we can run some tests and I should be able to completely remove the poison from your body, but I can't do that while you are still a kid. That's why it never worked permanently before."

"Okay, not much of what you just said makes sense to me, but what I did get was; I take this red pill, I get sick, I take the blue pill, I grow up, and I come back to you and you take more blood and I stay Kudo Shinichi and Edogawa Conan is gone, correct?"

"Basically."

My thoughts were running through my head like a marathon. I was trying to figure out when the best time to take the pill would be. I came to the same conclusion every time.

"I can take this anytime right?"

"Yeah, there is a 90% percent chance that this will work perfectly and I was able to stabilize it enough that the chance of you dying is less than 2%."

"H-Haibara…You have no idea how much this means to me right now. I finally found a lead to them, but I wasn't going to get to act on it full force, because I was stuck like this. We might be able to end this completely now…"

"You have a lead? What is it?"

"We believe that the main objective of the organization is immortality. They are after a stone that is said to grant just that."

"Pandora…I heard it mentioned a few times while I was there, but I never really cared. I slipped my mind completely, but how is that going to help?"

"That is jewel that Kaito Kid has been looking for. He found it. We are going to work together to bring them down, and the jewel is going to be the bait."

"The thief and the detective working together; this could become interesting. The first pill will take effect with a few minutes. You will need to wait about 15 minutes after you start feeling symptoms of a cold to take the next pill. The pain from this will be at least 3 times that of the past ones, and will last about an hour."

So if I take the fist pill now, then I can go explain the situation to Hattori and Kid and then get my clothes together; by then, enough time should have passed for me to be able to take the second one. No, I need to tell Hattori and Kid first, just in case. I thanked Haibara again and ran back to my house.

"Hey Kudo, what' yer rush?"

"Where's Kid?" I ignored Hattori, I was ready to talk to the both of them, and I didn't want to wait to explain it several times.

"He's still sleepin' in th' guest room…What's goin' on. You're usually not this hyped up after talkin' to that girl. Unless…Kudo, did she?"

"Yes, I'll tell you about it after I wake Kid up. We can calculate this into our planning and see if it would be more beneficial to have me as a kid or as myself."

I ran out of the room before I heard anything else he has to say. Kid was awake when I ran into the room, but just barely. Seeing that the room was still the color it was the last time I saw it, I continued to the side of the bed. It took everything I had to keep from jumping up and down on the bed.

"Haibara-san finished the antidote, huh?" How good was his hearing?

"Yes. Now we need to figure out if it would be more beneficial to have me as Conan, or myself."

"I don' see any reason that he would need to stay a kid."

"I don't either. You will have more leverage with the FBI as Kudo, right?"

"Jodie would listen to anything Conan said, but it would probably be more helpful for me to be myself so that everyone else will be more willing to accept my help. I would also be able to gather help from the officers I know here. I would prefer not to get them involved, but we wouldn't have to tell them everything. They could just help with the arrests. Megure-Keibu would trust me."

I was exploding with excitement. So far nobody had come up with a reason to keep me as Conan.

"Ya now tha' yer gonna have to tell Nee-chan, right?"

Damn, of course Hattori would come up with a down side to this situation.

"I can have the professor call and tell her that Conan's parents came back to get him. It would probably hurt her, but she would understand. I will go see her after I get my body back and explain some of what I can without putting her in danger."

"That seems like a pretty good plan for the moment." Kid's calculating eyes were trained on something that only he could see. It made me feel better to know that he was with the plan and willing to go along with it.

"What if we do end up needin' a kid for somethin'. I know that he's talented, but I don' thin' he could disguise himself as a kid…"

"I should have asked her while I was over there. For her own reasons, I don't think Haibara will be taking the antidote. She may be willing to disguise as Conan if we need her to."

I hadn't told anybody about the conversation I had with Haibara right after she had recreated the poison. I had asked her if she was excited about getting to go back to herself. She simply replied that Shiho Miyano was gone and she needed to stay that way; there was nothing for her to go back to anyway, buy Haibara Ai had a place.

"That will work." Kaito casually replied.

"Well what are ya waitin' for, I would like to finally get a chance to talk to the real you."

"Hattori, that is the real him, or at least it was ten years ago." Kaito threw a sidelong glance and I saw the laughter in his eyes.

"Haha, very funny. It is a two part pill, the first will give me a cold that will last a few days, and the second will restore my body to its regular form. Last, I will need to go see Haibara, and she will remove the rest of the toxin from my blood stream, so that it won't be able to revert. She can't remove it though unless I am in my teenage form. From the sounds of it, I will be down for the rest of the day and possibly some of tomorrow, we can put our plan into motion after that though. I'll be back in about an hour and a half, hopefully as Kudo Shinichi."

I heard both the other teens wish me luck as I headed for my bedroom. Since I wasn't tall enough at this point to reach the clothes in my closet, I settled on a pair of sweats from my drawers. I had brought a cup of water with me from downstairs and I proceeded to take the first pill. The effects were almost instantaneous, within seconds of taking the pill I could feel my head start pounding and I felt the fever start to take over. I sat on the bed waiting for the fifteen minutes, that Haibara said it would take, for the pill to take its full effect to pass.

By the time it was safe to take the second pill, I could feel the full effects of the fever. I'm going to pass out if I don't hurry and take the second part…Now breathing heavily and shaking everywhere; I took up the pill from the table and placed it in my mouth and with a quick drink of water my body started to burn. My bones were on fire. It had worked too much faster than any of the temporary antidotes, there wasn't any warnings like before. I hadn't had time to prepare myself for it like I had in the past.

"AAAHHHHH!"

"KUDO! ARE YOU OKAY?"

"Huh-hu-hu…" I couldn't catch my breath enough to answer as Hattori came bursting into the room. At least I had slipped the sweat pants on before I had taken the pill. I could hear Hattori and Kid's tones as they rushed to kneel beside me.

"What's happing to him?"

"I never personally witnessed it before, but Kudo's told me in the past tha' it's excruciatin' when 'is body changes. I've never heard 'im, or anyone fer tha' matter, scream like tha' before…"

"He's burning up. We need to find a way to cool him down."

I need to tell them something…What was it? Damn I can't even focus my eyes, let alone my words. That's right. I remember now…

"AAAHHHG! Damn it!"

"What 'bout ice? If we pack some around his body, it will help to bring his temperature down."

"Hu-hu-hu, no…"

"Why not Kudo?" Kid asked panic apparent in his voice.

"I-it slows down…H-Haibara said to l-let it run its course…GAAHH!" Damn, it feels like someone just lit my insides on fire…It hurts to even talk.

"Kudo! If your temperature gets any higher, then you will really be in danger!"

"D-don't do…any-thing. Hu-hu-hu…It may slow the process down…i-if th-that happens, my body may give out…before I f-finish changing…AAAHHG!"

"We can't stand here and do nothing!"

"Y-you have to…"

'Damn, this wasn't good. If they try anything to lower my temperature, it will slow the process down, and I don't think I can do this for more than an hour. Shit, my vision is blurry?


	4. Chapter 4

This is kind of a short chapter, but there will be more up soon!

'Damn, this wasn't good. If they try anything to lower my temperature, it will slow the process down, and I don't think I can do this for more than an hour. Shit, my vision is blurring, I will just have to trust that they won't try anything…' With that in my head, I fell unconscious.

"Hey, you 'wake?"

"H-Hattori?"

"Don't you dare try to sit up yet! You just scared the living hell out of us!"

What are they talking about? What happened? Oh, right. The antidote.

"Did it work?"

"Huh?"

I tried once again to sit up, having failed to first time miserably. I was shocked when I looked down at my feet and realized that they reached the end of the bed.

"So, she really did find a cure."

"Will ya quit mumblin' to yourself and at least tell us that ya aren' gonna shrink again."

"Or, any other side-effects that his could possibly have?"

"According to Haibara, aside from having a cold for a few days; this should be permanent with no harmful side effects. I might stumble around a bit at first trying to get used to it again, but after that I will be just like before."

"Didn' ya say that ya had to go see that girl after ya took th' pill? Something 'bout filtering the toxin out of yer blood or somethin'?"

"Yes, I have to go back to Agasa's so that she can detach any of the remaining toxins from any of my blood cells."

I made a move to stand, but felt myself sway. If it weren't for Kid standing next to me, I would have fallen flat on my face.

"Hehe, it seems that the fever is taking a bit of a toll on me, combined with the fact that I just aged ten years in about an hour…"

Kaito and Hattori supported me on both sides as we walked over to the professor's house. Once down in the basement, Haibara had the two 'other' teens lay me down on a small cot in the corner of the room, but I fell asleep soon after, so if she had asked or told me anything I wouldn't have known.

I glanced around the room, where was I again? I remembered being taken to the professor's house, but after that I darted up and ran for the bathroom.

"Oi, Haibara, what's wrong with 'im?"

"He just had all the blood in his body filtered, while he had a severe cold. Did you expect him to just wake up and feel perfect?"

I heard them talking outside the bathroom door, but I didn't really care to listen. All I could think about was not falling face first into the toilet as everything that was remaining in my stomach (which wasn't much at this point) was emptied. I was sitting on the bathroom floor for some time before I heard knock on the door.

"Hey, Kudo are you alright? If you don't come out pretty quick Hattori is going to come in." Kid's teasing voice was exactly what I didn't want to hear at that moment, and as if to back up his claim, Hattori came to the door.

"Oi, Kudo are ya oka' in there?" The concern in Hattori's voice was apparent, even if he was trying to mask it. I wanted to smart off and tell him; Yes, I'm perfectly fine, I'm just throwing up everything I've eaten recently and I feel like me head is going to explode!, but I settled for a toned down approach.

"I'm sick to my stomach and my head hurts, but other than that, I think I will live…" After hearing a relieved sigh from the teen, I slowly stood and made my way to the sink. I thought to myself, "I have to get this taste out of my mouth if I want to keep whatever is left in my stomach there." I rinsed my mouth and pulled a washcloth from one of the drawers, and wet it down with cold water. I could still feel the fever and the rag would help to lower it. I stepped out of the bathroom.

"You look like hell."

"You didn't look much better after you were shot I'm sure."

"Come on Kudo, ya need to sit down. I'm getting' sick just lookin' at ya."

Hattori led me to the couch with only some assistance, I was grateful for the cool rag I had placed on my head. I could feel my body shaking, but I couldn't do anything to stop it.

"Haibara, you said I would have a cold. You didn't say that it would be this bad…" I laid my head down on the back of the couch and closed my eyes. Having them open was only making me feel sick again.

"I said you would have a severe cold. You didn't ask how severe." There wasn't any hint of emotion in her voice at all as she spoke and walked over to me. I cracked my eyes open to see her place a glass of water and a few more pills on the table beside me.

"What are those for? I'm starting to feel like a drug addict…"

"One is for nausea and the other is for fever and dizziness. I'm sure that you are experiencing all of those right now. You are shaking like a leaf."

I picked up the pills, setting them on my tongue and then threw the water into my mouth. I could immediately feel my body rejecting anything ingested, but I fought to hold it down. After the feeling had subsided and didn't feel as shaky I lifted my head and opened my eyes.

"Are ya feelin' better now?" Hattori had taken off his hat at some point and his hair was a mess. He must have been running his hand through it. I'd forgotten that even though he knew about the little problem, he had never been present when I had taken any of the prototype antidotes. He was probably still shocked. If Kid had been surprised whatsoever, he wasn't going to show it. His face was blank; poker face.

"Much better. Damn that was something; hurt like hell." I shuddered at the thought. "So I'm really back this time Haibara?"

"No, the drug was a failure." Her face didn't show any signs of emotion.

"Really…Well that was a bit of a letdown." I was screaming on the inside, but I stayed calm. It wasn't the first time that the antidote had failed…

"No not really you idiot, you are Kudo Shinichi. You didn't think that I would have let you take it if I wasn't almost completely sure that it would work, did you?" She smirked.

"W-what?" I glanced around the people in the room and saw them all giving me that same damn smirk. They were screwing with me!

"Tantei-san, we are sorry. It was wrong, but we put her up to it." Kid was the first one to speak up, and if I thought that I could move without getting sick everywhere, I probably would have punched him.

"Tell me again why the hell I'm working with you guys again?" I'd taken to laying my head on the back of the couch this time, but I kept my eyes open to see any reactions they may have.

"Oi, Kudo, ya can't be mad at us. Ya didn' give us any warnin' about this whole thing. We were flippin' out; th' way ya screamed back then had us thinkin' that ya were gonna die right then an' there."

"It felt like I was about to die right there, but you're right I should have warned you."

"Hey don't look so down. We are just glad that you are okay, aside from the cold of course, but relatively okay." Even though his face wasn't giving away what he was feeling, Kid let some relief slip into his voice. I hadn't realized how worried they had really been.

Over the next day and half, Hattori wouldn't let me out of bed until my fever was totally gone. He was starting to remind me of a mother. Kid had left, and was supposed to be returning that night. He was planning the heist where we were going to try to lure out more members of the organization. That left the rest of the day open for Hattori and myself.

"I'm gonna go back to Osaka for a bit t'day. Kazuha is pretty ticked 'bout me bein' gone and not callin' her. I'm gonna go back and tell her I'm on a case and will be outta town for awhile. You can come with if ya want to, but I figured that ya would have someone ya wanted to talk to as well."

"Yeah, I do. If you wanted to you could bring Kazuha back with you. It would save a lot of fighting between you two. She could stay with Ran. It would keep her close enough that we could keep a watch on her without her knowing where we were." I had been thinking about how to keep the girls out of this mess from the beginning. The only thing I could think up was to just tell them that we were on a potentially dangerous case and they needed to lay low for a bit.

"Ya think that would work? She can be really stubborn."

"Kid also said that he had a friend that he needed to make sure was safe. I told him that she could stay with Ran as well, but he said that she didn't know he was Kid. He is going to try to find a way to get her here, without giving away his identity."

"How's he expect to do tha'?"

"I don't know, but he is Kaito Kid, keep that in mind."

"Yea', I guess yer right."


	5. Chapter 5

Kaito's POV

"KAITO! Where have you been?" Uh-oh, I made her mad again. She isn't going to let me leave again without some resistance.

"I told you already! A friend of mine in Beika needs my help with something so I have been there with him." Jeez doesn't she listen.

"What exactly are you helping him with?"

"I'm not exactly sure so far. He got sick right after I got there, so he hasn't got to explain everything to me yet. That's why I came back for today, but I have to leave again in a couple of hours." It least it wasn't a total lie…When this is all over I'm going to have to tell her everything. I hate having to lie to her.

"So you expect me to just stay behind not knowing what you are getting yourself into again?" She's thinking about my absences from school when I was injured as Kid.

"No, I didn't. I knew that you would want to come. My friend has it set up so that you can stay with his girlfriend while we are working." That wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. She practically set it up so I would bring her. As long as I don't appear as Kid in front of her then she shouldn't find out before I tell her.

"How long? Dad will be worrying if I'm gone for too long." Of course he would.

"I'll talk to your dad. Is he here?" I'm going to have to talk to him as Kid first, but if he is home then I can pretend to leave. I'll say I'm going to pack or something since my things are already outside.

"Yes, he's been in his room for awhile. Kid sent another heist note and he's trying to solve it…" I couldn't help but to hear the hurt in her voice. Kid was taking her father away from her, but that was going to change soon. I promise Aoko, I will tell you the truth after I'm sure that it won't put you in danger…

"Okay, tell him I said hi. I need to go pack a few things that I'm going to need while I'm there. I'll be back in about an hour to talk to him. Have your things ready to go when I get back."

"Okay…Why don't you talk to him now?" Think fast Kaito, think fast!

"If he is working on Kid's note, I don't want to mess with him. You know how he gets when it come to that thief." Good save. It makes sense and she will buy it.

"Oh, I guess you're right. Okay I will see you in an hour. Don't be late."

"Of course not. I wouldn't want to keep a lady waiting." I thought about adding manly to that, but I didn't think I would be able to dodge the mop again right now, and if she managed to hit me I might not be able to climb up to the old man's room. Damn, I should think twice before getting shot. It really makes my job hard…I threw one last glance at Aoko. She looked pissed. I ducked out the door before she could grab her mop.

A few minutes later I was standing on top of Nakamori-Keibu's house dressed as Kid. Man, this is probably going to hurt more than I was hoping. I latched one end of a wire to the roof and let the other end dangle in front of Nakamori's window, which I knew he kept unlocked. I slipped down the rope and into his window as quickly and quietly as I could.

"Keibu-san." I knew a direct approach like this was just going to enrage him, but I couldn't exactly just walk over and sit beside him. I would probably be killed. Not to mention the fact that I possibly pulled some stitches on the way down.

"Who? What the hell are you doing here?" Loud as always.

"Please Keibu keep your voice down. Your daughter might hear. Do you really want her around me?" I knew how to pull his strings. I'd witnessed firsthand how much he wanted to keep Aoko away from Kid.

"Why are you in my house?" He was much quieter now, but he voice still dripped with hate.

"I need to warn you Keibu." I said trying to keep my distance, but Nakamori didn't seem to want to stay on his side of the room.

"Warn me, about what?" There was true curiosity in his voice this time, covering most of the hate. At least he had stopped following me for a second.

"Do you mind, Keibu? I don't think this will take long, but I haven't been feeling my best lately and I would like to finish this as quickly as possible." In truth, I now knew that I had pulled a few stitches and it would hurt to move around too much. I could already feel some of the blood seeping through the bandages. I would just have to hope that it didn't show on my coat, or Nakamori-Keibu may do something unexpected.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" That was off. He usually would have just asked if I was sick. What would make him think I was hurt?

"What makes you ask that Keibu?" I kept my poker face, but I really was surprised. I shot him a grin that would dissuade anyone else from the subject, but he wasn't like everyone else was he?

"I heard some rumors that there were witnesses that said Kid was shot. Your movements aren't as quiet and concealed as they usually are either." Damn he was getting good.

"I give credit where it is due Keibu. You are getting better at noticing the finer details." Should I tell him about being shot? Yeah, it will probably help to make my point across. No, he wouldn't believe these people were just street thugs then. "Yes Keibu I'm a bit hurt, but would I be out running around with a gunshot wound so soon after? Nevertheless would you consider moving to the lower level of the house? It would make it more easily accessible in times like this." Joking around with him wasn't going to help me at all, but I needed to keep up the Kid façade.

"Like Hell I will!"

"Your voice Keibu, please. I was only joking; I hope to never have to do this again. Believe it or not, being in the same room as you had every sense in me telling me to run, to escape, but I have to warn you about something. So, will you please listen for a few minutes?" Crap, I won't be able to use my right arm to get out the window. It's okay, I've pulled off more amazing feats than getting out a window.

"What exactly are you here to warn me about?" Alright, here goes.

"I'm sure that you've noticed a few not so great people at some of my heists. I'm sure that you have also seen them take a few shots at me."

"I've been wondering about that for awhile now. Why exactly are they taking shots at you?" I believe I just heard a hint of worry in his voice for Kid. He's too good for his own good…

"They are just a few thugs. I don't think that they are too dangerous and they haven't been targeting anyone else. I think maybe they consider themselves to be vigilantes of some sort. I want to warn you not to go after them, Keibu."

"Why is that? Vigilantes are criminals as well, even if they think that they are helping."

"That is true Keibu, but I will take care of them. If I find the identities of the vigilantes, you will be the first to know and you can make a legal arrest. I don't want you spooking them and it would look funny if you suddenly knew about them. It would make it seem like you were working with Kid." Keep it simple. Don't lie, but don't give away the truth. "For now Keibu, I need you to pretend you don't know about them when you are chasing me, just in case. I also want you to send your daughter somewhere for a few days. I have reason to believe that they have been looking into you." Damn, why did I say that?

"If they are looking into me, why the hell would I pretend that they weren't there?" Nakamori had made his way over to me without me realizing it and before I could react, he had a firm grip on my right arm. I hissed when he jerked it towards him, I assumed he was trying to get me away from the window.

"Is it that bad?"

"No Keibu, it's just a scratch. I was trying out a new trick for the next heist and well, it didn't exactly go as planned." Damn that hurt like hell. Any of the stitches were still intact before, weren't now, that I was sure of.

"Don't lie to me. I've seen you hit, cut, and shot at. I've never once seen you react to pain. If this hurts enough to break your poker face then it isn't just a scratch." When did Nakamori-Keibu get so damn perceptive?

"Your right, it hurts, but don't think that it is going to stop me from my upcoming heist. I expect your full attention Keibu and nothing less." His grip loosened for less than a second, but I used that time to twist out of his grip and land on the window pane.

"I'm sorry Keibu-san, but I must be going now. Please do be wary of any shady figures, but don't try to act on them, and don't share this with the rest of your squad." Nakamori took a step towards me and I flinched backwards. Damn, I have to get out of here. He pulled the rest of the stitches.

"You're bleeding." I looked down.

"It does seem that way, I must be going now Keibu-san, but as I have said, this isn't the worst I've had." Nakamori flinched and looked truly apologetic for grabbing me the way he did.

"I'm sor…"

"Don't. You mustn't apologize for something that isn't your fault Keibu-san. I will be taking my leave now." I was starting to feel sick at my stomach, probably from too much activity and the bleeding, if Nakamori had come at me at that moment, I probably wouldn't have gotten away. But, he never moved. He simply stood staring at small growing spot on my jacket. I leapt out the window grabbing onto the wire I had left outside the window and sliding gently to the ground using only my left hand.

What was I thinking letting him get that close to me? I had changed out of my clothes before I had ever left Nakamori's yard. Usually I would have changed after I had made some distance, but Kid wasn't one to be seen while the sun was still up, and I didn't want to change that now. I need to have this repaired before I go to pick up Aoko. I would prefer to go to Jii's, but I don't have enough time, my house is closer. Mom is going to be upset again…

"Kaito, what are you doing home? I thought that you were going to be staying at Kudo-kun's for a while. Kaito?" Man, she was going to be really upset.

"Mom, I need your help with something."

"What's this, Kaito's asking for my help, that's a first. What's wrong?" Maybe I should have risked being late to meet Aoko and gone to Jii's. Oh well, too late now.

"I busted my stitches. I have to pick up Aoko in about twenty minutes, but she would notice if I was bleeding." I had also replaced the bandages before leaving Nakamori's house so that the clothes I had changed into were not stained that god awful crimson color. I need to get a new suit before I leave.

"Kaito…come on. Get in the house." She's really calm. Usually she would throw a fit about me taking better care of myself and then would ask me to stop being Kid.

"Sit down. I'll be back with the medicine kit in a minute."

"I wasn't doing anything dangerous." I knew what she was going to think, before I ever walked in the door. "I was asking Nakamori-Keibu to watch his back, and seeing if he would be able to get Aoko somewhere safe until this whole thing blows over."

"That doesn't tell me how you busted your stitches." There was no anger in her voice, just worry.

"I had to repel to his window. That is probably what weakened the stitching." I didn't want to tell her that Nakamori had been the one to actually tear the stitches out. I know she wouldn't blame him, but something inside me didn't want to tell her.

"If that was what weakened them, what actually tore them Kaito?"Crap. I didn't want to tell her, but I wasn't going to lie to her either.

"Nakamori-ojisan grabbed my arm when trying to figure out how bad I was hurt. He unintentionally pulled a bit too hard."

"Kaito, what if he still suspects you of being Kid? All he would have to do is check and see if you are hurt in the same place as Kid."

"I know it was careless, but I didn't want to see anyone get hurt."

"I don't want to see you get hurt, but I guess you are really just like your father. I can't say that's a bad thing, he was a good man, but I wish you would take a little more time to watch out for yourself. I'm going to get the medicine kit now. You don't want to be late meeting with Aoko."

I didn't know what to say. She was right, but at the same time, I couldn't just sit by and watch while others were being getting hurt, knowing it was my fault. She returned after a few seconds with the kit, and began re-stitching the wound without saying anything.

"There, all done. Now before you dart off, promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Try to watch out for yourself at least half as much as you do Aoko. I know you love her, but if you aren't around anymore, what good is that love?" There were tears in her eyes, but I knew that she wouldn't let them fall.

"I'm not going to die. I will come back. When I do, hopefully Kid won't be a necessity anymore."

"I hope your right." I retrieved a suit from the hidden room, then we said our goodbyes, and I left to meet with Aoko.

I was knocking on her front door in a matter of minutes, with my bag at my side so she would think that I really had gone home to pack. After a few seconds Nakamori-Keibu answered the door and grabbed my right arm. I tried to hold back a hiss from the pain, but failed.

"What's wrong Kaito-kun?" He asked with genuine sympathy, it didn't seem like he was really trying to prove I was Kid again by the tone of his voice, but then why would he grab my arm immediately after opening the door.

"You just surprised me. That's all. I wasn't expecting you to answer the door, or grab me immediately after." Shit, was he buying it.

"Really? You know I heard a rumor that Kaito Kid was injured recently." Nope, I'm screwed.

"Really, I was trying out a magic trick with mirrors and one of the mirrors shattered after a dove flew into it. I was pretty cut up afterwards, and my mom told me that I couldn't use mirrors and doves at the same time anymore." I knew it wasn't any use trying to dissuade him into not thinking I was Kid, but I had to at least try.

"Why? You better have a damn good reason for what you are doing Kaito. I've known you for a long time and I know that you enjoy your magic, and are mischievous, but I never imagined that you were really the Kid. I had my suspicions before, but I thought we had proved them wrong. I was so relieved that we had proved them wrong." I was still waiting for the sound of handcuffs slapping on my wrists, but it didn't seem like that was the man's priority at the moment. At this point I took up Kid's voice.

"As I told you before Keibu, I'm after some thugs who may or may not be dangerous. I would like to figure out if the rumor behind a certain stone is true or not." I didn't see the point in hiding it anymore. He would either give me a chance to do what needed to be done or he wouldn't, plain and simple. "I have to finish what I started or people could get hurt."

"Kaito, I'm only doing this because I trust that you will turn yourself in when this is over. I don't know what exactly is going on, but if you get yourself killed, I will not let it go so easily."

WHAT! He was going to let me go. Granted that when everything was finished I would have to turn myself in, but at that point the organization would be gone and everyone would be safe. I was okay with that.

"Your generosity amazes me Keibu. You would be willing to trust a thief?"

"No, I do trust a boy that could practically be my son. I want you to tell me what is going on as soon as you can. If it is dangerous, then I want to help. I don't want you to get hurt again." Okay, that was not the reaction I was expecting.

"Well, will you trust me enough to know that I'm not going to run off yet? I would appreciate it if you let go of my arm. I am injured after all." My words had come out a bit more harsh than I had intended them, but I couldn't concentrate on making myself sound nice when he was practically sticking his thumb into a hole in my shoulder. He released me after realizing that the hiss I had let out was one of pain, not surprise.

"I'm sorry Kaito-kun. Will you tell me what happened."

"Not now Keibu-san. I need to ask you something, and we have a visitor." Aoko rounded the corner at the end of the hallway just as I had finished the sentence.

"Dad, what are you guys talking about?"

"Oh, Kaito-kun here was just about to ask me a question. Right Kaito-kun?" Wait…He wasn't even going to tell Aoko. He probably realized just as well as I did, that I didn't stand a chance against her mop right now.

"A-ah yeah. Nakamori-san, I am going out of town for a bit and I was wondering if Aoko could join me. I'm going to be staying at a friend's house in Beika with him and one other guy; naturally she wouldn't be staying in the same house. My friend's girlfriend lives close by and her, Aoko, and one other girl would be staying there. So how about it Nakamori-san?" I leaned in so I could whisper something to him without Aoko noticing. "It is a safe place. The girls have no connection with what's going on and it would remove her from harm's way."

"I'm not sure if I trust you enough to run off with my daughter." He caught on quick enough; he is going to play the worrisome father to keep from making it look like he gave in to easily.

"Dad, it will only be for a few days, right Kaito?"

"Right. I promise there will be nothing funny with her and I will have her back within a reasonable amount of time." Hehe, sorry Keibu, I can't give an exact day. I looked at him apologetically.

"I don't really see any harm in it if you are even going to the extent to stay at separate houses, but keep in mind Kaito, if you try anything funny then I will have you arrested the moment I find out."

Nakamori-san reached out and patted my shoulder as a signal of trust. I let out a hiss so low that I didn't think that either person standing in front of me would here, but Nakamori-keibu caught my eyes and gave an apologetic look. I stepped to the side out of Aoko's line of sight and tenderly rubbed the area around the wound.

"So when will you two be leaving?"

"Actually, Kaito came and asked me about this earlier. I'm already packed and ready to go now." Only now did Nakamori care to take notice of the bag that I had dropped at my feet when he had grabbed my arm.

"Right now? Is this what you two were talking about when you came by earlier Kaito-kun?

"Yes, I knew Aoko would be upset if I left without her again, so I came by earlier to ask if she wanted to tag along. If we don't get going pretty quickly though, we are going to miss our bus." Knowing that I had planned on hiding Aoko without him knowing about it would probably once again upset Nakamori-keibu, but he had too many things on him mind right now and probably wouldn't think too much about it until later.

"Okay, Aoko call me when you get to this girls house, so I know that you arrived safely."

"Okay, I will."

After goodbyes were said, it was my turn to give Nakamori an apologetic look as I walked away not telling him about the hell that was about to break loose. We were on the bus a few minutes later and headed back to Beika.


	6. Chapter 6

Another short one…Sorry Guys, but as always, I'll have the next one up asap.

Heiji's POV (I'm not going to do his accent unless he is speaking out loud.)

"So let me get this straight. Kudo is on some big case and he wants you to come help him on it, and if you guys can finish quickly, then he can come back, right?"

"That pretty much sums 't up." I told Kazuha the basics of what was going on in Beika, leaving out any details about them and Kid. I also told her that Nee-chan would most likely want some company for the next few days until Kudo could finish up the case, since the brat was leaving to go back with his parents.

"Okay then let's go. It gives me a chance to catch up and do some shopping with Ran."

I would never understand girls and shopping. "I need to get some clothes from my house, it shouldn' take long. I will meet ya here in 'bout fifteen minutes and we'll be takin' the bike, so dress warm."

"Okay, see you then."

I headed towards my house. I told my parents that I was going to Beika to visit a friend who had been out of the country for awhile; they bought it easily enough, and without any further delay I hopped onto my bike and sped to Kazuha's. It would only take us about an hour to get there as long as nothing happened on the way.

End Heiji's POV

Kudo's POV

"How long exactly?"

"I'm not exactly sure, 3, 4 days, a week tops. I should be back by then." I hoped that this would be over by then. "If it is taking longer than expected, then I will call you."

"When you come back, will you tell me everything?" She was holding back her tears again. Stupid, why do I always make her cry?

"I promise." You may not like me after it's all said and done, but I promise Ran, I will tell you the truth.

"So Hattori and another boy named Kaito are helping you on this case and Kazuha and a girl named Aoko will be staying here for the next few days?"

"Only if that is alright with you, they need somewhere safe to stay while we finish this."

"It is fine with me, dad is out of town on a case, but why do they need somewhere safe to stay? Is this going to be dangerous?" Stupid, I let something slip again!

"Maybe a little, but we are well prepared. We are only putting them in hiding as a precaution. I don't think that they will actually need it." Seems like a good cover. She'll buy it.

"You're sick again aren't you." It wasn't even a question. She had been observing my behaviors since I she opened the door, as much as I wanted to hide it, it just wasn't possible. I didn't feel so sick anymore, but I was still flushed and had a slight fever.

"Ran, I swear it is just a small cold. I'm taking medicine for it and drinking lots of fluids." Haibara had been surprisingly attentive when it came to taking care of my cold. It was kind of scary in a way.

"As long as you are taking care of yourself…"

"Of course silly, I wouldn't want to miss a chance to come back and see you smile again. It seems all I do anymore is make you cry." The doorbell rang and Ran moved to answer it.

I could hear Kazuha and Heiji fighting before Ran had the door opened all the way and in walked to two teenager followed by Kaito and Aoko.

"Oi Kudo, Kazuha for some reason went back to thinkin' tha' ya were a girl and I had been sneakin' away to Beika to see ya. She's got it in her head that Nee-chan is just a cover. Will ya please clear this mess up fer her."

"Nice to meet you, you must be Toyama Kazuha." Her jaw dropped.

"S-so, he really is a he?"

"Tha's what I've been tellin' ya this whole time baka."

"Don' call me baka, you aho."

"Well it seems those two get along really well." Kaito was suddenly standing next to me. I noticed how he was favoring his arm as he laid his bag down. I would have to remember to ask him what happened later.

"If that is them getting along I would hate to see them when they were mad at each other." The girl who had come in with Kaito suddenly spoke up and I looked up. It still shocked me how much she looked like Ran.

"Oh wow, Ran you and her could be sisters." Kazuha and Heiji had finally stopped arguing long enough to realize that there were other people here.

"Shinichi, he looks just like you…Oh…" Ran glanced back and forth between us before a look of realization hit her.

"What is it Ran?" I asked wondering if she recognized Kaito from somewhere.

"Are you from the Ekoda district?" She asked out of the blue.

"Well yes I am Miss, but how would you know that? I don't believe I have met you in person before." Nice choice of words Kid…

"I was shopping there once and I thought I saw Shinichi with another girl…It must have been you and, I believe your name is Aoko."

"Yes, and from the sounds of it, you are Ran and she is Kazuha. It seems like we are going to be staying together for a few days."

"It seems that way." Replied Kazuha, who had finally gotten over her sulking and come out of the corner.

"As much as I would love to stay and get acquainted with all the beautiful girls in this room it seems Hattori, Kudo, and myself have some planning to do." Kaito received blushed from Kazuha and Ran, but Aoko, Hattori, and I glared at him as if daring him to try anything.

"As much as I hate to leave after just returning, Kaito-san san is right. Come on Hattori, we need to get busy to we can end this quickly. The main part of our plan will happen tomorrow and we need to be prepared for it."

We all said our goodbyes to the girls and headed back towards my house.

"It's amazin' how much you and Kaito-san look alike, and to top it off, Nee-chan and Aoko-san look just as close. You thin' maybe ya could be distant cousin's or somethin'? " Hattori said after we were all seated in the front room of my house.

"No, I'm sure if we were, Kaito-san would have found a link when he looked up who I was." I glared at Kaito again.

"How did you know I looked into you?"

"You just told me."

"I did?"

"I was just guessing that you would want to know who was in that helicopter that almost caught you, but I didn't wait around to talk to the press. I was sure that you did a little digging and found out who I was. I also know that you are not satisfied with just a name, you wouldn't have stopped until you knew as much as you possibly could about me."

"Well that is what I get for hanging around a detective for too long. I don't know about you guys, but I'm exhausted, I think I'll turn in. After all tomorrow is possibly Kid's final performance." Kaito attempted to stretch, but thought better of it when he moved his bad arm.

"That reminds me." I said as Kaito was getting up to leave. He paused. "What happened?"

"You were there tantei-san; you aren't developing short term memory loss on me now are you?" Trying to cover it up, I wasn't going to let him get away that easily.

"We are working together now. You can't be hiding anything that could change the outcome of our plan."

"Wha' exactly are ya talkin' 'bout Kudo?"

"He reinjured his shoulder. Didn't you?" His eyes darted between a confused Hattori and me before sighing.

"Yes, I did. I had to do a few tricks to get into Nakamori-Keibu's room, including a few acrobatic moves, and I pulled the stitches a bit, but when I did get in I didn't realize how close he had moved to me and he jerked my shoulder a bit harder than necessary and ripped out the stitches. My mom closed it up, but it's a little bit sore. Oh and Nakamori-Keibu used that to prove to himself that I was Kid."

"HE WHAT?" Hattori and I shouted at the same time. Hattori still didn't know Kid's full name, but like I had earlier he had enough to find out if he really wanted to.

"When I went back to pick up Aoko, he opened the door while she was still packing and grabbed my arm. It hurt so naturally I cried out. I didn't even think that it was enough for him to notice at first, but I think that, that was what he was going for. He had suspected Kuroba Kaito of being Kid before, but could never find proof. Now he has it." I take that back, now Hattori did know his name.

"So, why aren't you in handcuffs and why is Aoko-san here? Nakamori-Keibu doesn't seem like one to trust a thief." I stated.

"That's what I thought at first as well, but he said he wasn't trusting a thief; he was trusting a son…"

"So, 'e jus' let ya walk off with his daughter?"

"He knows some of the situation. I explained what I could without putting him in danger. He didn't agree verbally to lay low, but I think that he will if it means protecting someone. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but it won't affect my performance tomorrow. I have learned over the past couple of years how to do everything with one hand, and I'm completely ambidextrous as well." I didn't seem like the thief was hiding anything that would affect the outcome of tomorrows heist, but I didn't want him hiding anything. Even if he deemed it to be unimportant, it may not be in the long run.

"Okay, well as long as everything is out in the open now, I agree with Kaito-san, let's turn in and get some sleep."

All three of us headed to separate rooms within the house, showered, and went to sleep. It was going to be a long and stressful day after all.


	7. Chapter 7

"How do you expect me to wear this thing all day?"

"I have to leave before you guys, so if you don't put the wig on now, there won't be anyone to help you put it on correctly later."

"I see why I can't go out as myself yet, but can't I just do like you do? Slap some makeup on my face and be good to go?" Wow, I never thought I would be asking about putting makeup on.

"Kudo, did ya jus' ask if he would put makeup on ya?"

"Shut up Hattori!" I didn't want to wear the makeup or the wig, but seeing as how Kudo Shinichi was still missing, none of us thought it was a good idea to flaunt his presence at a Kid heist, at least not yet.

"You are both clear on the plan, right?"

"'Course we are, we 'ave been goin' over it repeatedly since las' ni't." He was right there. Any of us could have told what their part of the plan was, it wasn't really complex. We just had to hope that nothing would go wrong. Everything was going to count on Kid getting away from the heist safely with the jewel, as long as that happened then the plan would work out somehow. Even plan B counted on Kid getting the jewel tonight.

"Don't mess this up Kid, and please change out of that outfit before you leave my house. That is the last thing I need hitting the papers 'Kaito Kid spotted leaving famous missing teen detectives house!'."

"Will you guys relax? Everything is going to work out just according to plan. I scouted the place out a few days ago. If they are going to show, they would have snuck in there after me. As soon as I see anything that suggests that they are there I will send you a message saying where and giving any other details that I see fit."

"Not just the details you see fit, we want all the details." I remembered him trying to hide the fact that Nakamori-Keibu had pulled out his stitches.

"I know, I know. Dang detectives are almost as worrisome as parents."

"Wha's tha' supposed to mean?"

"Ah, I forgot. You haven't met Kuroba's mother yet." I would side with that woman any day. She may have a cover of an oblivious parent, but she knew the basics of what was going on. All he had to do was ask. Even if she knew he never would.

"Well, aft' this 's done, do ya thin' I mi't be able to? I wan' to meet the woman who raised Kaito Kid."

"Maybe someday, but for now my dearest detective's I need to be going. I don't want to keep my audience waiting and if I don't get the preparations done; that is exactly what I will end up doing."

"Kudo, ya don' look half bad 'ith a wig." I glared at Hattori before turning back to Kaito.

"You don't have to say anything Kudo; I will call you if anything happens."

"That's all I wanted to hear. Now if something does happen and you don't call, I have a reason to tell Aoko who you are and arm her with a mop" I knew joking before he left would help to relieve some tension, if only a little bit.

"You wouldn't…"

"Not if you keep us informed. If you fail to include every detail, then I would suggest investing in some kind of body armor."

"I'm kinda wonderin' 'bout this mop thin'. Can ya tell m' why exactly 's 't that ya can nose dive off a buildin', but yer sca'rd of a gir' 'ith a mop?"

"Nobody said I was scared of her." Kaito shuddered. "I just don't think it is right to try and defend myself against a girl, so I usually end up getting the bad end of the deal. I will be leaving now, and I will be sure to include all the details." Another shudder.

Kaito was gone after a few seconds, without leaving so much as a smoke cloud to prove that he was there.

"So wha' do we do now?"

"Let's go get something to eat. We can't do anything until tonight anyway."

"Have ya contacted everyone tha' needs to know 'bout wha' is goin' on?"

"The FBI will be waiting at the heist, and I don't see any reason to get anyone else involved, unless absolutely necessary. My dad will have his contacts in the area, but we won't know that they are there until I call him and tell him that they are needed. I called Megure-keibu and told him to keep a team ready just in case, but I won't call him until we are sure that the majority of the danger is gone."

"Wha' 'bout yer parents?" Hattori gave me a worried look. He was wondering if they were going to end up in the way.

"They are staying in America until I call them. I told my dad that we were going to start making our move, but I left out any details. I asked him not to tell my mom. You know she would rush over here the instant she had an excuse to. I didn't tell them about the antidote either. That would just make them want to come back even more." I didn't want anyone else to worry about, it was better to just keep distractions out of the area. "The only thing that they will be involved in is getting in touch with dad's contacts if it comes down to that, but since the first part of the plan shouldn't involve any fighting only following we shouldn't need them yet."

"Well 'n tha' case, let's go git somethin' t' eat. I'm starvin'." As if right on queue his stomach started to grumble.

After taking a few minutes to decide what to eat we were off. We needed something to take our minds off of what was going to happen tonight.


	8. Chapter 8

**I know this is a little late compared to when I have been posting the other chapters (A little late? 3am is not my idea of a little late!) I apologize for this, I just started back to work and on Fridays and Saturdays I don't usually get off until 1am…I'm also starting my research paper, but it shouldn't stop updates.**

**I tried to write this chapter with less talking. I have received a couple of review saying that I included too much conversation in the story so I will try to tweak it a bit. I'm not really used to writing in this format so by all means send me a message or review if you see anything that needs fixed and tell me if this has a more acceptable amount of 'talking' in it. I've gotten a lot of really helpful reviews and have tried to thank everyone personally for them, but I may have missed one or two, so just in case 'Thank You everyone who has read the story up until now and left reviews that will hopefully make this a better story!'**

**As usual, the characters in this story aren't mine…except Kazuki, but you can have him…I don't think I like him very much.**

**Sorry about all that, on with the story.**

Kaito's POV

After yet another look around the place, I still wasn't sure where they would be coming from. I'd scouted the area out again and couldn't find any sign of them being there. The only other explanation I could come up with was that they possibly had help from the inside so they wouldn't be there until just before the heist.

It would look to conspicuous for Kid to show up this early. Visiting Nakamori-keibu would probably give me the best idea of anyone suspicious on the inside. He's going to be pissed that it ever crossed my mind that one of his men could be anything but loyal to him. He's known most of the men for years. This was going to be hard.

~KNOCK KNOCK~

"I'm coming; I'm coming, hold your horses!" Nakamori opened the door obviously not expecting anyone and definitely not expecting me. "What the hell are you doing here? Where is Aoko? Is she okay?"

"She's fine Keibu-san. I need to talk to you about tonight's heist." I physically shuddered at the thought of asking Nakamori for help on anything to do with Kid, but he already knew who I was so did it matter?

"Don't address me that way. You are Kaito right now, not Kid. Do not address me that way while you are Kaito."

I shuddered again. I wasn't sure why this time; something in his voice caught me off guard. Regret, maybe? I was expecting hostility or maybe even hate, but regret was not one of them.

He must have caught the movement and thought it was from the cold, because he stepped out of the doorway to allow me inside. "One wrong move and I will slap a pair of cuffs on you." It was barely above a whisper, but loud enough that I could catch it.

"As if you could catch a phantom Keibu-san." I let a hint of Kid's voice slip into my own. Now was not the time to be messing with him, but I just couldn't resist. I followed him to the living area silently after I got no response from joking with him. I planned on simply asking if there was any chance at all of someone in the task force being a mole, but of course where Nakamori-keibu or Kid for that matter was involved, nothing was that simple.

Nakamori took a seat in the recliner and gestured for me to sit on the couch across from him. After doing so I realized that he was waiting for me to talk.

"This may sound strange to you Nakamori-ojisan, but do you know of anyone in the task force that could possibly be leaking information about Kid's heists?"

The look I earned was one that I was not accustomed to seeing on the man's face while I was myself, it was absolute pure rage. He didn't make any movements to show that he was going to answer me, so I went on to explain my ideas about there possibly being a mole in the police force.

"I've been working with most of these men for years; I don't think that there is one that would betray the force like that." His voice was dripping with anger, so much so, that I felt the need to slide to the far end of the couch.

"I'm not saying for sure that they are, I'm just stating the possibility."

"What is this really about Kaito-kun?" The question caught me off guard, but I never faltered or let my face slip.

"I have had snipers take shots on me on several heists. The fire power that they have would no doubt have to be taken in ahead of time, unless they had access to the surrounding buildings during the heist. The only ones that do are the task force members, correct?" I winced as I thought back to the most recent attempt on Kid with those high powered rifles. Nakamori didn't miss it. He suddenly had a sympathetic look again, one that was still uncharacteristic of him.

"Your injuries aren't from a failed magic trick are they?"

My silence must have been enough of an answer for him, because he continued on.

"How many times, and why wouldn't I have noticed them?"

"What?"

Pretending to not know what people were talking about seemed to be my automatic defense against topics I didn't want to talk about. I tried to look honestly confused, but it was only making Nakamori mad again. I sighed and gave him somewhat of an explanation once again trying to distract him from his actual question.

"They are people who are used to staying in the shadows. They are practically capable of becoming invisible unless you know they are there, and even then it can be nearly impossible to find them."

"You told me that the people on the heists were just a few street thugs, didn't you?"

"I did tell you that, but that was before I realized that this might be an inside job. I was hoping I wouldn't have to get you anymore involved, but if it is from the inside you will be in more danger not knowing. These people take out any links to them. If Kid was killed, then someone from the task force just disappeared then you would find it abnormal right?"

"Of course, we have been working all this time to catch Kid. If someone from the force just disappeared then I would be worried that they had something to hide, and I would look into them."

"Exactly. This group would have predicted that, just like I did."

I didn't like it when Nakamori was silent, I much preferred him screaming at the top of his lungs about the things he was going to do after he caught me.

"What the hell have you gotten yourself into? Does your mom know any of this? Why didn't you go to the police?"

He really likes throwing all his questions in at one time; at least he wasn't asking for the whole explanation, we would miss the heist.

"I can't tell you everything right now, but I will and hopefully soon. Yes, she knows most of what is going on. And as I said earlier, I don't want to get anyone involved that doesn't need to be, besides if this is an inside job I would be dead already if I'd gone to the police."

"What if you are right about this being an inside job?"

I came to ask him a few questions, and I'm getting the shake down. "Then I need your help to locate where they would have access to, and when they would be most able to set up, and who they are."

Nakamori was hesitant to give me any information at all, but he decided that I wasn't lying to him about this being a matter of life or death and caved on someone who had recently joined the task force named Kazuki, who helped with deciphering notes and predicting my exits. Kazuki rarely attended the heists though, saying he always had something better to do than chase a thief. He also told me that managers in office buildings or hotels near the heists would offer up rooms to the police to use in case they needed them for anything. Police clearance was needed to get in them, but as far as he knew they had never taken anyone up on the offers.

After receiving the information I had come for, I stood preparing to leave, before turning back to Nakamori, who hadn't taken his eyes off the center table for some time.

"I didn't forget…"

"About what?" This time I wasn't avoiding anything, I just wasn't sure about what he hadn't forgotten about.

"I still want an answer to my question about these shooters."

"About half, and a few; I'm not going to tell you more than that because I want you to worry about yourself and not me."

"You know you could have told me in the beginning and we could have avoided this whole mess. You don't need to hide anything from me. You do at least have someone you can go to right? I just want to know that you have someone you can trust, since you weren't able to trust me."

The words cut me worse than any knife ever could have.

"You know that isn't true. I thought about telling you so many times, but I saw how much Aoko hated Kid, and I didn't want her to hate me as well. I accidently became Kid, and couldn't just drop it after I found out his reasons for doing what he did. After this is all over, I will tell her and she can hate me, but right now I can't afford to make mistakes because I was too worried about whether she hates me or not. If I didn't trust you, I would have run the moment you figured it out. I wouldn't have come back to ask you for help."

"…"

Nakamori, speechless, better take a picture. It wasn't ever going to happen again. Then again, he seemed to be having that problem a lot throughout our conversation.

"I'm sorry, I don't really have time to answer any more questions right now, but I promise I will when this is over."

I once again was not ready for it when he reached out and placed his hand on my shoulder not as gently as he could have; and once again I hissed out in pain not loud enough to be heard unless you were waiting for it.

"If you can't even bear to be touched, how do you expect to get away from the task force tonight?"

"I'll worry about that, you worry about keeping your men and yourself safe. Now if you don't mind, I'd rather not have to make a side trip to have stitches put in my shoulder a third time."

"You really are just like your dad." He glanced at me and then it looked as if something in his brain clicked as he released his hold on me. He just made a connection with something. "Toichi, he was the first…"

"Not yet, I said I would tell you everything, but I'm not ready to talk about that yet…"

"I understand. Kaito-kun, be safe. I look at you as a father would a son; I know you have a father, but I would like it if you would allow me to look at you that way."

I stood dumfounded by the door. "Nakamori-san, after this is over I would very much like to make that official."

"Wha…" He started to ask something, but I was already gone. I didn't want to be around when he finally caught on to what I had just implied. When this was over, when I'd served my time, and if Aoko didn't hate me, I was going to ask her to marry me. Sure we were young, but I'd never been so sure of something in my life.

I pushed all thoughts of my life away as I changed into the blinding white suit. I took to the glider, seeing as how it was starting to get dark and not many people would be about in the cold weather. Except of course the diehard Kid fans, but they would be at the museum waiting for the show to begin. The cold air felt surprisingly refreshing as I began my decent on the hotel Nakamori had informed me about earlier.

There didn't appear to be anyone there, but I took extra precautions. I just wanted to scout this place out for now. On the third floor, there was a door with caution tape across it. I couldn't remember anything happening here recently and Nakamori didn't mention it, so I decided to investigate.

"It's 9:00 now; Kid should be here in about an hour. Is everything ready for his arrival?" I could hear the voices, I wasn't sure what Kazuki's voice sounded like, but I knew that voice almost as well as I knew my own.

"Of course Snake. We always have everything set up in advance. We won't let him get away this time." The other voice must have been Kazuki. From what I could hear they were the only ones in the room right now meaning Snake had found his own way in, while Kazuki had used police clearance.

"We will have higher-ups from the main branch observing tonight. From what I've heard, the boss will be sending Gin, Vodka, and Vermouth to witness the Kid's death. We are then to retrieve the jewel and head straight to headquarters." Higher-ups? Gin, Vodka, Vermouth, those are names that Kudo mentioned in his explanation. Which means that Snake is a branch off the same organization.

"What if we aren't able to get the jewel tonight?" Kazuki spoke, his voice totally void of emotions.

"We will deal with that if it comes up. Then minute Kid shows up outside of that building, take him out." It seemed like Snake was talking to a third person in the room, but I wasn't going to risk being seen so I away from the door.

In any case, I knew where they will be shooting from. Now I just had to get out of there without being noticed. The roof would be the best bet. I could just hang around up there until 10:00 came around, then swoop off this building and over to the museum. As much as I would like to hang out and hear the rest of their conversation, I really need to keep out of harm's way until back-up arrived. Oh how I was going to regret that decision later.


	9. Chapter 9

**I only got 1 review on the last chapter ****, so I'm not really sure if I'm succeeding in making the chapters have less conversation and more action. So please, let me know. I hope everyone is still enjoying the story, if not let me know why and I will attempt to fix it. **

**As usual, none of the characters in this story are actually mine. If they were I probably wouldn't be doing concurrent enrollment with high school and college as well as working…X( **

**Hope you enjoy the chapter! XD **

Still in Kaito's POV

The air outside was cool and dry. I hadn't ever really thought about what the suit was made of until that point. I could feel the cold biting at the exposed skin on my face, but I was fine everywhere else. I would have to look into the material later.

Ten minutes until show time, there were already hundreds of people standing in the crowd below. Among them I caught a glimpse of an elderly man dressed in Kudo's clothes. Seeing as how we hadn't really had time for a wardrobe change, his disguise actually worked well. He was directing a few people in equally plain clothes to set up an inconspicuous perimeter around the building I was standing on the roof of the building where I had heard the conversation. I had called and given him the location earlier of the members, and the bit of the conversation I had caught. He was going to follow the taskforce into the museum when they made their move, just in case something went wrong. Jii was also staying close, but out of sight, just in case. He would also be the one to place the dummy when I 'fell'.

The plan now was for me to steal the jewel, get shot at by the sniper, who was still unknown at this point, and drop a fake jewel that Jii had created earlier. In theory the organization would most likely send one group to collect the fake jewel and another group to find me. We had two teams organized by Kudo, one would follow the group going after the jewel and the other would follow the ones tracking me.

If for some reason I wasn't able to get out of the building, we would have to go to plan B. It still involved me being alive, but it required a bit more time and more direct contact with the organization.

Plan A was foolproof as long as I didn't actually get shot, the glider didn't break, the others weren't seen, and they didn't realize the jewel was faked, or notice us following them. Yep, absolutely foolproof…I was the fool.

Ooops, I wasn't paying attention to the time. I need to go now if I'm going to make this thing happen on time. Here goes nothing. I slipped unnoticed to the museum and stood atop it. Here goes nothing.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMAN."

A huge roar was heard from the crowd below, and if I wasn't mistaken above all that noise was Nakamori-Keibu's ever so colorful name calling ritual as I began my decent into the building.

I had of coarse memorized the entire buildings layout and reached the jewel within minutes, dodging the occasional taskforce member. I finally reached the holding room for Pandora; I made quick work of the security system, and headed out the door. Usually I would have toyed with the task force a bit more, but tonight was just too important.

"Too easy Keibu-san, I told you to make it look like you didn't know anything." I said to myself out loud.

"I didn't make anything easier, if anything, I took extra security procedures. There should have been no way that you made it out that quick unless someone tampered with my equipment."

I started at the sound of another person's voice other than my own. I turned and faced Nakamori-keibu.

"Keibu-san, there weren't even any alarms hooked up to it, nor was there anyone in the room guarding it."

"That's ridiculous. I checked them myself when I came here earlier. Everything was working perfectly and I placed only myself guarding it this time. Everyone else is posted at the other doorways and exits to the building."

It wasn't until that moment that I noticed something was off in the room. There was something there that wasn't a few hours before. We were standing in between the hallway entrance and a window. I took another glance around the room and in the corner on the other side of the hallway entrance was a small rectangular shaped box, consisting of many multi-colored wires running in all directions across it with a horribly bright red LED timer sitting in plain sight. 00:05

"Is that a…" 00:04

I didn't even have time to think before sensory overdrive kicked in. Moving as fast as my adrenalin enforced body would allow, I shoved Nakamori down the hallway screaming for him to run. He did as he was told, but as I was going to follow after him a sharp pain shot through my left side and I fell against the window, which now had a circular hole through it as well as hundreds of little cracks that looked like spider webs. 00:03…00:02…00:01…00:00.

I never really felt the impact of the blast, but I saw the explosion. It wasn't strong, and it wouldn't have been enough to kill me unless it went off while I was sitting on it. There was no doubt that Nakamori-Keibu was perfectly fine in the hallway. I also failed to take notice of the fact that I was leaning on a window in front of a bomb until after it crumbled beneath me due to the blast, sending me plummeting towards the ground. The shot that had hit me earlier had weakened the glass enough to completely shatter when I was thrown against it.

Kazuki may have known or even planned the inspector's whereabouts and used that against me. Even though they couldn't have guaranteed I would stand by the window, they had planned it knowing that I would try to save anyone else in the room before myself. There were probably more traps set inside the building that I could have fallen into as well.

My ears were ringing and my vision was spotty, but I managed to open the glider, which thankfully was undamaged. As the wind caught it I felt my entire body scream in agony. Any stitches that I had before were long gone; again…I could feel the burns against the cold wind beating against me. I could also tell that I had several severe lacerations from the shrapnel the bomb had thrown, but in contrast all this was nothing compared to the pain screaming from my left abdomen. The bullet hadn't pierced all the way through due to the angle it entered from and on top of that I was sure that I had broken bones from the blast, although I wasn't sure where because there wasn't anything that didn't hurt.

I could hear more bullets whirling by my head, how I managed to dodge them in that state is a mystery to me.

"KID? HEY, KID? ARE YOU OKAY?"

They radio earpiece Kudo had given me earlier suddenly sprang to life in my ear and sent a shooting pain through my head. It took a minute for me to register what he was saying.

"I-I'm alive."

"What the hell happened? I couldn't get into the building like planned! Something went wrong and we were barred from all entrances."

"I-I don't…know…" It was hard to breathe and my vision was swimming no matter how much I willed it to stop. "They…mu-must have planned…for N-Nakamori-keibu to there…w-when they set the bomb. H-he's s-still inside."

"Get into one of the buildings quickly! They have stopped taking shots for the moment, but it is probably just to switch guns or reload. The closest place is back where the bomb went off, do you think you can make it back there?"

I hadn't even noticed that the bullets had stopped. The glider had drifted higher than the room I had fallen from without me even realizing it, but that would make it easier to make it back in. On top of that I was still worried about Nakamori.

"Y-yeah. H-have Jii…meet me a-at the rear…entrance." The battery died before I had a chance to say anything else, so I leaned forward enough just to drop the tip of the glider and leaned to slant the tip towards the window I'd been thrown from. The glider picked up speed in its descent. There was no way I could land the glider in such a narrow space without crashing, but it appeared to be the safest route out of the sky.

It definitely would never go down as one of Kaito Kid's more graceful landings, but considering the circumstances I think that would be forgiven for now. Because of the width of the window I was forced to close the glider before I was totally in the window causing my momentum to throw me into the room with no way of bracing myself.

"WHAT THE HELL?" I had never felt so relieved to hear that man's voice. I wanted nothing more than to float into unconsciousness, but something wouldn't let me. I needed to make sure he was okay.

"K-keibu…san? A-re you…" I asked, barely audible over the roar of the flames in the room.

"Come on Kid, I need you to stay awake! It would be a pain in the ass to drag you out of here by myself; there are more bombs down the hallway. We need to get out of here as quickly as possible!" He didn't appear to be injured, but there wasn't really anything I could do right now even if he was.

I couldn't make out what Nakamori was saying, but I could hear the urgency in his voice. If this man was worried about something, there was a reason to be. He more or less dragged me off the floor from where I had fallen, though trying to be as gentle as possible.

"AHHH!" I screamed as he pulled me upright. I was sure now that I had several broken ribs, but my legs were fine, the blast had been placed on a shelf so it was high enough to miss them. I would be able to somewhat walk out of here with him.

"I know it hurts Kaito-kun, but you have to bear it. We are going to get out of here and then we are going to catch the men who did this!"

I wanted to know how long we had until the other bombs started going off, but I couldn't catch my breath enough to ask any questions. Luckily though Nakamori knew somehow that I would want this information, or maybe he was just trying to talk to me to keep me awake.

"We have about two and a half minutes. I can't figure out why they would set the bombs to go off at different times though…"

"Th-they…a-are trying…to l-lure me out…in-into the open…" I hadn't put much thought into why the bomb wasn't powerful enough to kill me immediately, but it suddenly appeared as obvious as a slap in the face. They wanted to make sure that I was dead.

Damn, it was getting to hard to breathe. One of the broken ribs or maybe a piece of shrapnel must have punctured a lung. Nakamori continued to half drag me to the staircase to get to a lower floor. We had passed what appeared to be all the bombs, but we were only a few floors away from the top of the building and the way things were, it seemed that elevators were out of the question.

"P-put me down." I tried to keep my voice as even as possible. I knew that he wouldn't listen, but I also knew that if he had to drag me down the stairs, he might not make it to the bottom. I was sure that there were bombs on the other floors as well, and to support this theory there was another loud explosion on one of the floors above us. I was also sure that there were people outside waiting to kill me and if he left with me, they wouldn't miss it.

"Like hell I will! We are both going to get out of here. What would your mother say if she knew I left you to die in a collapsing building?"

"Y-you won-won't have…to t-tell her."

"You think I would be able to live with myself after that? You're an even bigger idiot than I thought! We are both going to get out of here, even if it means that I have to carry your stubborn ass out!"

He had already started down the stairs almost completely carrying me before I even had a chance to argue.

"H-how…w-would it look…w-ith you carr…ying Kaito Kid out...of here?"

He once again didn't fell silent. He knew what was at risk; I wasn't going to go so far to say that he didn't care, but he wasn't going to let someone die if he could help it.

"Le-let me ch-change…"

"What?"

"…cloth-es…Y-ou can…t-tell them I was…j-just a Kid fan-who sn…uck by…" Damn between the smoke and injuries it was getting hard to think let alone talk. At that point I didn't even know if I could change my own clothes, but I didn't want him to get in trouble for helping Kid either. On top of that, 'they' probably wouldn't expect Nakamori to carry out Kid. They may just think that I was some random kid or maybe even one of his officers. It would be even better if we took the back entrance. The hotel was on the other side of the building and they wouldn't have a direct view of who was coming out of it.

"You have a change of clothes on you?"

"…huh…A-always Keibu…san." We had already descended a couple of flights of stairs and my body no longer felt pain. In fact I didn't feel anything at all. Nakamori leaned me against the wall, but without his support I just slid to the ground.

"You can't even hold yourself up, where are your clothes?" I didn't really like the idea of Nakamori helping me change, but we didn't have much of a choice at this point. I gestured to the small compartment between the glider and my back where I kept a pair of baggy running pants and a regular t-shirt.

"We are going to have to leave your suit and glider here."

"Th-they…won't b-be re-pairable…I's ok...y…I h-have spares…" I shouldn't be telling him that, but if I didn't, he would probably be inclined to carry them with us until we could find somewhere to hide them and that would only slow us down more.

"Damn, this is bad. We need to get you out of here now."

I managed to stand up long enough to change into the baggy running pants on my own before nearly collapsing again. Nakamori caught me before I hit the ground and began stripping off Kid's jacket and shirt being careful not to add anymore injuries. He had to peel parts the blue silk shirt off where pieces of it had melted to my skin. Just as I had thought earlier I looked down to see neat little hole and some horrendous lacerations that were still bleeding profusely. And to make things worse, my body chose this time to start feeling pain again.

I kept most of what I could hidden, but it wouldn't have really mattered anyway. It wasn't like Nakamori couldn't see how badly I was injured. When he finished I allowed my head to lull back in relief, but only for a moment before I was hauled back onto my feet, letting out another startled cry this time falling into a coughing fit. After a few seconds I was able to stop coughing but I tasted a small amount of blood in my mouth.

"Can you walk at all?"

I started to answer him when my voice caught in my throat. I must have burned my throat pretty badly when I inhaled due to the blast. Nakamori caught my hesitation, but I quickly recovered and nodded my head slightly, causing the world to spin again. Great on top of everything else, I probably had a concussion. That's when I noticed that the earpiece was missing from my ear. I felt the wire dangling behind my ear.

"Do you have back-up outside?"

All I could do at the moment was not my head. I could taste even more blood in my mouth. My vision was swimming again and I knew that I wouldn't be conscious much longer. I instructed him to head to the rear entrance and I would be picked up there. He mumbled something in response but I didn't catch it before he started walking again, carrying me more so than not.

"That was the last flight of stairs. You said we need to go to the back entrance right?"

I simply nodded my head again. I would have already passed out, but Nakamori kept asking me questions. Even though I knew that they should have been simple question it took all I had to answer them. I knew somewhere that he was just trying to keep me awake, but I didn't want to stay awake, I wanted to go to sleep.

"Young Master! What happened to him Nakamori-san?"

If Jii's presence had surprised Nakamori at all he hadn't shown it in the least. The man was a great inspector; he had probably figured it out sometime before the heist.

"Damn kid pushed me away from a bomb and took most of it himself. It looks as if he has another gunshot wound to his left abdomen. It is difficult for him to breathe so I think he has broken ribs puncturing his lungs along with some serious wounds from a glider crash landing."

I only caught parts of what Nakamori and Jii were saying. I was too concerned with a new pressure on my stomach. Whatever it was, it hurt like hell and I wanted it to go away. I caught one last thing before I passed out.

"Hattori! Help me keep pressure on the more serious wounds!" I drifted out of consciousness.


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry I didn't update last night, I got home and for whatever reason my Wi-Fi wasn't working. Here's the next chapter, keep the reviews coming I love to see what everyone else is thinking. (Disclaimer: Blah…Not mine, yet…)**

I only caught parts of what Nakamori and Jii were saying. I was too concerned with a new pressure on my stomach. Whatever it was, it hurt like hell and I wanted it to go away. I caught one last thing before I passed out.

"Hattori! Help me keep pressure on the more serious wounds!" I drifted out of consciousness.

Shinichi's POV

"Nakamori-san, Jii-san, if we don't get him treated now he really will die! At this point holding pressure won't do much good."

I didn't even try to keep the worry and urgency out of my voice. He wouldn't make it to the hospital, even if rushed it would take at least twenty minutes. Jii's place was much closer and Kaito had mentioned before that he had a pretty much stocked medical room.

"We'll take him to my house. By the looks of it he wouldn't survive a trip to the hospital. I'm only a few blocks away."

Nakamori looked slightly taken aback by the old man's statement, but went along with it.

It took less than thirty seconds for us to get him loaded into the car. Though, it seemed like we were in the car for hours. Kaito didn't regain consciousness, but he fell into a coughing fit soon after entering the car and before long his mouth was a bloody mess. Hattori and I knelt in the floor keeping pressure on his wounds, while Nakamori sat in the seat with Kaito's head on his lap.

When we arrived at Jii's, Nakamori was the one who carried Kaito into the pool hall, following Jii to the back room, and set him on the same bed that I had seen him on only a few days earlier. Nakamori, Hattori, and I moved to the corner opposite of the table to give Jii the space he needed.

We watched as Jii hooked Kaito up to several machines, one of which showed Kaito's heart rate. It was so low that there were times in which I wasn't even sure it was actually still beating, but I quickly got rid of those thoughts and trained my attention back on Jii. The old man would have made a terrific surgeon. I could see him giving Kaito several shots, probably for shock as well as an anesthetic.

"He needs a transfusion…I can't really keep a stock of blood in my freezer here. He has B blood, do any of you share it?"

"I 'ave O."

"I have B."

Hattori and Nakamori spoke at the same time, both eager to help the teen. I didn't know what to do, I felt absolutely useless.

"There is research to suggest that O blood may not necessarily be a universal donor anymore, it is just the least likely to react. To be on the safe side I'm going to use Nakamori-san's blood. Do you have any injuries?"

"As I told you before, Kaito pushed me out of the room and was hit with the blast. I only have a few scratches, nothing that will influence this in the least. Now Jii-san, if you don't mind?" Jii didn't hesitate any longer and soon had the transfusion set up.

After hours of cutting, mending, and re-stitching, Jii fell into a chair near the bed Kaito rested upon, now covered in pristine white bandages, with only trace amounts of that awful crimson liquid to betray what was underneath it.

No one moved as they waited for the old man to speak, but as he so often does Hattori got impatient.

"Well, 's 'e gonna be a'right?" Jii's gaze faltered for only a second before he looked up.

"I don't really know. He had some internal bleeding, one of his lungs was punctured by a broken rib, he has the old bullet wound in his right shoulder that was torn open again, and he has a new wound in his left abdomen, also from a bullet, which was still in his body, but I removed it. He most likely has a concussion, as well as quite a few other major lacerations. His body has never taken this big of a shock before. Not even after the first time he confronted the men who killed his father. I don't know how he will react to it. Considering the amount of blood he's lost, it doesn't look good. All we can do is wait to see if he will wake up."

"He will." Nakamori hadn't so much as sighed since he had taken his place at the end of Kaito's bed after the transfusion. Hattori and I had been pacing the room a bit. I looked around the room. If anyone had walked in at that moment, they would have called the police on us. Mine and Hattori's hands and arms were covered with blood from when we attempted to stem the bleeding coming from Kid. I shuddered at the memory. Compared to the amount of the teen's blood on Nakamori, ours seemed almost insignificant.

Based on what he had told us, Nakamori didn't have any injuries but he looked like he had just come from a blood bath. If it was all Kaito's it was amazing that he had survived as long as he had before the transfusion.

"I assume that everyone here knows who he is?" The question was asked to everyone, but it seemed to be directed more towards Nakamori-san.

"I know who he is, but nothing else. He promised to tell me later."

Seeing as how no one spoke out against Jii's assumption he turned to me.

"If I'm correct then, you are the young boy from before?"

Jii spoke, I nodded not wanting to talk, as I watched each shallow breath the teen took fog up the oxygen mask on his face.

"Okay, then I apologize for not being the best host, but you know where the bathroom is and you can show the other two. I will bring clothes out for everyone. I keep all sizes around, so I should have some that will fit everyone. After I bring them up, I am going to take a shower and I suggest you all do the same. I would appreciate it if you would inform me of any changes concerning the young master."

Nakamori's fists were clenched tight enough that his knuckles were turning white. I didn't want to know what the man was feeling at that point. No one spoke as Jii returned with the promised clothes and left again.

"I don' know 'bout ya, but 'm startin' ta ge' a bit sick 'ith all this on me."

"Over there." I pointed to the bathroom that I had seen Kid go into the first time we had come here. It didn't occur to me that they were waiting for me to tell them where the bathroom was.

Hattori threw one last glance at me like he wanted to say something, but didn't. I was thankful for that, I didn't want to be lectured by him at the moment. I just wanted to be left alone. I took a moment to clean most of the blood off of myself in a small sink in the corner of the room, vowing to take a complete shower after Hattori and the inspector had finished.

"I'll be on the roof if you need me." I slipped through the hidden door without waiting for a reply.

It was cold and I hadn't bothered to grab a jacket, but I wasn't willing to go back downstairs to get one either. I sat on the pool hall's roof and stared at the sky. I hated feeling so helpless. I had long since pulled of the wig and bit of make-up that successfully hid my identity. I didn't know how long I was on the roof, but at some point I must have dozed off.

I woke up to the sound of the hidden door opening. I half expected Hattori to come out and try to cheer me up. The thought of that almost made me mad, I didn't need cheered up. I needed to feel like I was doing something.

"Who are you? Why are you helping him?" It wasn't Hattori's voice that resonated through the darkness.

"We are just two people who were caught in the same unfortunate circumstance, and decided to work together for a greater good." God that sounded like something from a movie, but everything that was happening recently seemed like something out of a movie.

"I know you won't tell me much, but will you at least tell me something…" I paused for a moment not really sure what to say, or if I should really say anything at all.

"I can tell you some of my story, not all of it, but I won't tell any of his. You said he promised to tell you." It wasn't my story to tell. I wouldn't tell him much about the organization; Kid could tell him what he wanted about that. He came to sit next to me.

"I don't need to know everything now. I just want to know why someone is trying to kill a group of teenagers."

"Keep in mind that very few people know that he is a teenager. There is a possibility that these people after him haven't realized that he isn't the original Kid. You didn't until recently, if I'm correct."

He let his silence be my answer and waited for me to continue. I told him my name and in as little detail as possible about being involved with some group of people and having to go into hiding. I left out anything about Conan and any details about the organization, we would have to fill him in later anyway if he was going to continue helping us. I kept it pretty simple; because I didn't want to accidently give away anything Kaito may have wanted to keep to himself.

"Saying that I understand would be a stretch, but I think I'm beginning to. I just wish that I would have been able to help him at least a little."

"You did. What if you hadn't been in that building when the bomb had gone off?"

He didn't reply. We sat in silence for a while longer and I could feel that my cold had gotten a little bit worse.

"Can I ask you one more question?" There was a hint of hesitation in his voice and it took me off guard. I had only met the man as Conan, but I didn't remember him ever hesitating before saying what was on his mind. In fact, most people knew him for the fact that he always said exactly what was on him mind, it didn't matter who was listening.

"You can ask anything you want, and I will be as truthful to you about it as I can."

"H-how do you know Conan Edogawa?" Most people would have thought it was a simple question, but obviously this particular group of people wasn't like most people.

"Conan is…well…" I guess there wasn't really a point in trying to keep anything from him. "You know how I told you that these people tried to kill me and that's why I had to go into hiding?"

"Yes." He had already figured it out. I knew he had, but he wanted confirmation. It was after all supposed to be impossible.

It seemed strange sitting here talking to someone I barely knew about things that I hadn't even spoken with Ran about, but it seemed easy. Nakamori was someone I could trust, but I didn't feel nearly as protective over him as I had Ran. So I gave him an answer. I told him about the drug and its affects, and how a cure had only been found recently. I left off anything about Haibara for the moment, but he would find out about it probably after Kaito woke up and we all discussed it together.

Nakamori remained quiet for what seemed like an eternity. Which was odd based on what I had seen and heard about the man. "I knew Conan wasn't a normal child. His eyes looked too much like Kaito-kun's…like they had seen and experienced more than any one person should."

Even if I had known how to respond to that I wouldn't have been able to. I fell into a coughing fit and Nakamori rushed to my side to see what was wrong. He placed his hand on my head out of a parents instinct.

"You're burning up!" My cold must have gotten worse than I thought, because he pulled his hand back abruptly before shrugging off his coat and wrapping it around my shoulders.

"Really? I guess I kind of dozed off a little bit. These past few days have taken a toll on all of us. That combined with the weather must have made my cold worse..."

Nakamori stood and held out his hand to help me up. I was stiff from the cold. I felt myself sway as I stood and almost fell back onto the roof, before Nakamori helped support me.

"You were sick before all this? Come on; let's get you downstairs and out of these clothes. You still haven't even had a shower."

I hadn't even realized that Nakamori was changed out of the blood stained clothes he had been wearing earlier, probably due to the dark, but the sun was starting to rise now. He said I had been out here for hours, how long was that exactly?

I insisted that I would be able to walk down the stairs on my own and with some hesitation Nakamori let me go. I was a little shaky, but other than that and the dizzy spells when I moved to quickly, I was able to make it down the stairs.

"How is he Hattori?" I tried to keep my voice even, but it wavered just enough for him to notice.

"Are ya oka', Kudo? Ya don' look s' gud."

"I fell asleep on the roof…It's pretty cold out there."

I wanted to say, Of course! I'm perfectly fine, a friend of mine is fighting for his life and my stupid self went out a made myself even more sick, but I didn't want to worry him too much. "I will go see if Jii has any medicine after I take a shower."

He started to protest, but then looked at my clothing. "Yer right. Ya should take a shower first. Th' old man sa'd Kaito 's stable fer now. 'e still 'ants one o' us ta watch 'im in case anythin' changes."

"I'll watch him. You boys need to rest for now. I don't know exactly what you had planned, but I'm sure that this counts as it failing. You need rest so that we will be able to come up with a new strategy."

Both Hattori and I did a double take at the man. I wasn't really surprised at the fact that he was going to help us so much as the fact that I hadn't realized he was still right behind, and his voice seemed to have that influence on people.

"Kudo-kun you go wash up, Your clothes are still in the bathroom. Hattori-kun, you go see if Jii-san has any medicine for him. We don't want his cold getting any worse than he's managed to make it."

Without another word Nakamori took a seat next to Kaito and Hattori and I did as we were told. It was no wonder that he was the head of a task force. Even though he was no doubt worried, he immediately took charge.

The shower had made me feel better, until I got out. I leaned down to grab the towel I had dropped on the floor, rose to quickly, and found myself laying on the floor with my head swimming again.

I heard Hattori at the door asking if I was okay, so I quickly got dressed in the clothes Jii left for me and left the bathroom assuring him that I would be fine after I rested for awhile. There were three cots set out on the opposite side of the room from where Kaito was laying and I wanted nothing more than to curl up on one and fall asleep that instant, but I wouldn't let myself yet.

"Ya sure yer okay? Ya look really pale."

"I've been worse. I guess my immune system is still shot from my little incident the other day. It's not too serious." I was trying to be assuring, but I wasn't fooling anyone in the least.

"I don't know where you boys come from, but here having a cold this severe isn't okay. You need to take this and lay down."

Nakamori handed me the cold medicine I assumed Hattori had gotten from Jii.

"Okay, I will right after I call and make check on the girls. With everything that has happened, I forgot to call and update them. They are going to be upset."

"Damn…I forgot too. Kazuha 's gonna kill me aft' 'is is all over."

"So it is your girlfriend that Aoko is staying with?"

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" I spat, too loud and harsh.

"Ah, I'm sorry. That is what Kaito-kun told me."

I turned to glare at the boy lying on the table. "She is just a friend, not my girlfriend; I didn't mean to snap at you like that."

I walked to the other side of the room, pulling out my phone as I did. Ran was going to be upset. I had finally gotten to see her again and I disappeared. We were supposed to call the girls and talk to them about our day. Naturally we weren't going to tell them what had really happened yet, but they did need to hear from us. Ring, ring, ring…

"Shinichi…Do you even know what time it is?" Ran answered in a sleepy voice and I glanced at my watch. It wasn't even seven yet.

"Ran, I'm sorry its early, but we forgot to call last night and we might not get another chance today. We are going to be really busy. How's everyone doing?"

"Kazuha is pretty upset about Hattori not calling. Aoko says it doesn't bother her, but I know she is lying."

"What about you?" I asked hesitantly. I wasn't really sure I wanted to hear the answer.

"At this point, I'm used to you showing up and leaving again without telling me…"

It stung more than I could have imagined.

"R-ran, I'm sorry. In a couple of weeks I shouldn't have to leave anymore."

"I was right then. This case is related to you being gone this whole time." Perceptive as always.

"Yes, it is."

"Are you okay, Shinichi?" She sounded like she was finally awake and worry was evident in her voice, but I could tell she was trying to mask it.

"I'm fine." I lied; I was actually feeling worse since I'd gotten out of the shower.

"Please stop lying to me. You made your cold worse didn't you?" She didn't even try to hide the worry that time.

"Ran…I'm sorry, your right. No more lies. I did. We had a long night and we ended up at a friend of Kaito's. He owns a business; I went to sit on the roof for a little bit to think, and I fell asleep." I knew I had just given away where we were. All she had to do was ask Aoko what friend of Kaito's owned some kind of business and she could be there in less than fifteen minutes.

"Shinichi! It was so cold outside. You shouldn't have even been on the roof in the first place!"

"I know. I just needed to think and well it's kind of ironic isn't it. I went out there to think, but I obviously wasn't thinking too well, or my cold wouldn't have gotten worse." It just dawned on me how stupid I was really being.

"You should get some rest." I chuckled to myself, even when she was angry, she still had time to worry about everyone else.

How long do you think that this case is going to take you guys? I'm having fun with Aoko-chan and Kazuha-chan, but I'm ready for you to be home, I miss you."

"I'm sorry Ran; it seems that we hit a dead end last night. It will probably be a while longer than we originally thought it was going to be. Kaito has already talked to Nakamori-san; she is free to stay with you until then." I glanced at Nakamori, and he nodded his head in approval. "As for Kazuha, we haven't gotten a hold of her parents yet. Their school is on a break I believe, so they shouldn't have a problem with her staying as well."

"O-ok." I heard the skip in her voice and knew that she was hiding tears.

"Ran please, I wish I could come back now. It's just…"

"It's dangerous, isn't it?"

"Wh-what makes you say that?"

"I don't know how I know, I just do…Shinichi…I have a bad feeling about this case, so I want you to be careful."

"Yes, it will be dangerous, but I will be careful. Ran, you have to trust me. I know I haven't done much in the past to deserve that from you, but this is important. Will you trust me just this one time?"

"You know I wouldn't doubt you, but that doesn't mean that I won't worry about you…" I could hear the tears behind her voice again.

"Ran, everything will work out. This case shouldn't take too much longer, after that I promise I will come back and I'll never leave again."

"I believe you. I had doubts all the times you told me that before, but this time, this time something is different. I believe you will come back, but I also have a feeling like something bad is going to happen. It really scares me Shinichi."

"…" What do I say to that? Nothing really…

"Kudo, it looks like Kaito 's wakin' up!" Hattori spoke low enough that Ran wouldn't be able to hear him, while still keeping the urgency in his voice.

"Ran, I really would like to talk to you some more, but I have something I have to do right now. I will call you again as soon as I can."

"O-okay."

We said our good-byes and hung up the phone. Jii had already made his way to the bed and was checking Kaito's vitals and his pupil's reactions to light.

"How is he Jii-san?" I asked, worry coating my voice.

"Well, his heart rate and reactions are a little slow, but that could be because of the anesthetic I gave him this time. I don't think he has really ever used them. Even though they are slow, they are steady and his pupils are reacting fine. When he's a bit more lucid he will probably have one awful headache for awhile though."

Relief clouded my mind; I had to keep my distance from Kaito to keep from getting him sick, stupid, stupid, stupid! Nakamori was the first to his side and began talking to him in hushed tones that Hattori and I could not hear. We didn't try to listen in either, Kaito was reacting to Nakamori's voice and that was a good sign. We didn't want to overwhelm him too quickly.

After a few minutes of his hushed speaking, Nakamori turned to us with a tired but relieved look on his face, and a rose in his hand. Why the rose?

"He will be fine." He stated. "But he won't be moving for a good while." He added a bit more sharply than would have been necessary.

"Wha' were ya' talkin' ta him 'bout?"

"When he saw me, I figured he would react badly, because of who he is, but he didn't. I thought at first it was because he wasn't lucid."

"Wha' does tha' have ta do with wha' ya talked about?"

I was curious as well, but I couldn't focus with the floor swimming the way it was. I settled for sitting on one of the cots to regain my balance. I realized I still had the medicine in my hand, and as Nakamori resumed talking I opened it and took the recommended dose.

"He didn't talk about anything really. He made this appear," Nakamori held up a red rose. "and mumbled Aoko's name."

"Tha's it?" Hattori asked kind of disappointed with the answer he received.

"Yep that's it. Even in the condition he is in, he still finds time to worry about Aoko…Wait…" Nakamori glanced back at Kaito who was already asleep again. He looked as if something had just locked into place. Then he looked mad.

"What is it Nakamori-keibu?" I asked.

"I just remembered something Kaito said when he showed up at my house before the heist. I told him to be careful and that he was the closest thing I had to a son. He said something along the lines of, when this is all over; we may just have to make that official."

I couldn't believe it had taken Nakamori so long to figure out what Kid had meant by that. Although it was kind of understandable considering all the commotion before, during, and after the heist.

Nakamori went into another one of his rants, though it was more hushed than anything I'd ever heard come from him before. I would even go so far to say that he mumbled it. I moved to lay down on one of the cots and heard Hattori follow behind me. The medicine worked fast and I was already starting to feel better, but that didn't mean I wasn't about to drop due to pure exhaustion. Nakamori must have noticed.

"You two go ahead and get some rest; I'm going to stay up with Kaito-kun for awhile longer."

Any anger that had been present moments before had vanished.

Hattori and I didn't hesitate at all, and within minutes we were both asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**Okay, instead of posting at night like I have been, I'm going to start posting probably somewhere between 12:00 and 1:00 during the day. That way even if I do work, I should still be able to update semi-regularly. Also, the next couple of chapters probably won't be too exciting; I'll still keep them interesting though. We don't want poor Kaito jumping off of any buildings right after being blown up! It won't hold out for too long though. As always, I appreciate reviews good or bad. I would love to hear from everyone reading along, suggestions are welcome as well. I don't own this obviously…**

**Also, I don't know what will happen with my research project due date coming up pretty quick. I may or may not be able to keep updating on a daily basis. If it slows me down any, it should only be to every other day.**

Still in Shinichi's POV

I didn't know what time it was or how long I had been asleep when I started to wake up, all I was really aware of was an annoying voice that just wouldn't shut up.

"Kudo? Hey Kudo, ya 'wake?"

"Yes, I am now anyway." I let some annoyance slip into my voice. "What do you want?"

"Ya've been sleepin' fer three days. We decided it was time fer ya to wake up."

Three Days? I sat up quickly and glanced around the room sharply. That's right we are at Jii-san's. All the memories of the heist and what had happened after came flooding back in an instant.

"How is Kaito?"

"Perfectly fine Tantei-kun." I glanced over at Kaito who, if I hadn't known any better, looked okay; aside from a few visible minor burns and scrapes.

"Liar." It was the only word I could come up with right now.

"Now, now Tantei-kun, all things considered, I'm doing pretty good; and hopefully after all that sleeping, so are you."

"How are ya feelin', Kudo?" Hattori entered back into the conversation.

I thought about it for a moment and realized that I didn't feel sick at all anymore. Jii must have had some kind of miracle cure or something…either that or three days of sleeping could have possibly had something to do with it. I assured Hattori I was fine and glanced around the room.

"Where are Jii-san and Nakamori-san?" I'd noticed that they weren't in the room, but I hadn't really thought about it when I woke up.

"If I had to guess, Jii-chan is up front running the pool hall. I don't know about Nakamori-san, probably back at work."

"Yer right, the ol' man said he still needed to run 'is business and shortly after he left, Nakamori-san said 'e needed to get back so no question's would be asked 'bout him not bein' present after th' blast. He said ta give him a call once ya'll were feelin' better. He also said tha' if we try ta leave 'im out, then he was goin' ta kill us."

"That sounds like him alright. Well, let's give him a call." Kaito made a move to slide off the bed, but with a look from Hattori and me he found it a better idea to just stay where he was.

"I'll call him and let him know that we are awake, if you so much as try to stand up on your own…" I left the threat hanging to emphasize how serious I was and moved to get my phone.

"Crap, my phone is dead…not good…"

"Wha's th' big deal, we can use mine. I went and picked up th' charger from yer house while ya were asleep. I didn' know where yers was, or I would have grabbed it."

"Jodie-san, my FBI contact was supposed to try and find a lead on 'them' and call me. If my phone was dead and she tried to call, then I would have missed it." _Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why did I have to go and fall asleep on the roof?_

"Do you know her number?"

"Yes. Hattori, can I use your phone to call her?"

"'Course ya can. If sh' got a lead, tha' will make this whole ordeal a bit less complicated."

"Thanks." I took his phone and dialed the number I had carefully memorized, just in case I needed to get a hold of her and didn't have my phone.

_Ring, ring, ring._

"Hello, this is Jodie." Her English took me off guard, but I quickly recovered.

"Jodie-san, it's me."

"Ah Cool Guy, I was waiting for you to call. I tried to get a hold of you, but your phone kept going straight to voicemail." Now speaking Japanese, seeing as how she didn't have to keep up her charade.

"Yes it died; anyway, where you and your team able to track down the targets?"

"Of course!"

Jodie continued to tell of how one of the organization members, Vermouth from what Kir had told her, had left a trail to the headquarters. She also said that she thought it was a trap, and I fully agreed; especially since it was Vermouth how had left the trail. In turn I told her about what had happened on our end of the heist (the FBI still didn't know Kid's identity, but they knew he was helping) and how we wouldn't be able to make a move for awhile.

"Let me know if you find anything else out Cool Guy."

"I will and I will also get back with you about a timeframe for when we should be able to move again."

With that I disconnected the phone and turned to the other two teens in the room.

"She has a location for us, but we can't move until after Kaito is able to move again."

"What are you talking about, I can move just fine." He made a move to stand before sitting back down. "Okay, point taken. I do heal fast thought. With these I should be moving around in about a week and a half."

"Should we call th' girls and tell them tha' it is goin' to be longer than we thought…again…"

"I talked to Ran before, when I was sick. I told her that we had hit a dead end and may not be able to call for awhile. I'm sure she told the other girls as well."

I finished filling in Kaito on the contents of the conversation I had with Ran, leaving out a few details. I included the part about letting slip that we were staying at his friends business though and that got us thinking about where we could move to before the girls started looking for us.

"We could go ta my house, but I think it is a bit far away."

"Your right, does Kid have any hideouts that no one else knows about that he would be willing to share?" I didn't really expect the thief to just give us the location of one of his hideouts, but we were running low on options.

"He does, but we will have to take a cab to get there. I don't really feel walking or flying for that matter."

"Does Jii-san know about the location? If anything should happen, I want him to be able to get there."

"Yes, he knows more of Kids secrets than I do, I think. We can go tell him where we are going, Hattori, will you call the cab?"

"Sure thin'."

I helped Kaito up from his place on the make-shift operating table but I didn't have to help him too much once he was upright. From what I could tell, he was going to heal fast.

"Jii-chan, I need to tell you something real quick." Kaito called out down the bar.

"Hey boys, are you even old enough to be in here?" A man sitting at the counter waiting on his drink asked us.

"That man is our grandpa, he owns this place. We are allowed to come in here as long as we don't touch anything." The man then glanced in between us and seeing the similarities we shared decided that Kaito's story was believable.

"Why are you out of bed Young Master? You're still sick."

"We need to go hide for a few days so that Aoko doesn't come and try to kill me. I'll be at the aquarium."

"How exactly are you getting there?"

"Relax Jii-chan, we are going to take a cab, and I promise that there will be no acrobatics or anything of the sort for awhile."

After goodbyes and promises from Jii to stop by later, and Kaito be careful we headed out the door to meet Hattori and the cab.

"Don't you hate fish? Why would we be going to an aquarium?" I still couldn't get over the fact that the Kaito Kid was afraid of fish, of all things.

"If I tell Jii-chan that I am going to the aquarium, he knows something is up. He will come to the hide-out later. He knows what I mean."

"Of course you would have a way to communicate in broad daylight…"

"Wha' are ya talkin' 'bout?"

"We are going to the aquarium…" I said sarcastically, and received a funny look from Hattori, but he must have caught on faster than I did about it being a code because he didn't question it…

Before the taxi arrived Kaito called Nakamori and told him that we were moving locations and that he needed to meet Jii back at the pool hall after work, if he was still interested in helping us.

"Have you eaten anything?"

"Huh? No, I haven't been hungry. I'm afraid if I eat anything right now, I will just throw it up."

"Ya haven' eaten yet? I was sure that Jii-san would have shoved somethin' down yer throat when ya woke up."

"He kept me on a nutrient IV drip, but I haven't had anything solid yet and I don't think I want to for a while. There are still some IV's at the hide-out. I will make sure that my body gets what it needs and I will eat when I think I can handle it."

There wasn't really any arguing with him. If he threw up at this point, it might actually hurt him even worse. Hattori must have realized the same thing, because he didn't say anything else about it. With minimal arguing between the inspector and Kaito we were in a cab on our way to the other side of town.

The ride only took about fifteen minutes, but it seemed like so much longer. Every time the car hit a pothole or we turned a corner sharply I could feel Kaito wince, seeing as how all three of us were sitting in the back seat due to an unexpected visitor in the car with us. When the cab pulled up to where Hattori had called them to meet us a woman appeared out of nowhere and asked if she could ride with us. She wasn't going far from where we were, so we let her ride to avoid suspicion. Not that it would matter, the cab driver wouldn't see us as anything but some random kids.

"Do you need help?" I asked when Kaito stumbled a bit trying to get out of the cab.

"No, I just lost my balance for a moment."

"Ya sure, ya look like hell. 'm jus' no' use' ta seein' someone hurt 's bad 's ya are an' still havin' ta move aroun'…"

"Well, I'm sorry. From now on I will try to keep up my appearance." Kid said jokingly.

"Mayb' I 'as wron' ya can' b' to bad off if ya ca' still joke."

The two bantered back and forth for a few minutes before I reminded them that unless Kid was going to lead the way, there would be no way that were ever going to find the place. After that Kaito took his place at the front of the group and led us into an alley. Well, actually it was bigger than an alley, and there were several shops and restaurants set up in the center of it.

"Is Kid's hideout really somewhere so open?" I hadn't really meant to ask it out loud, but I had.

"Are you kidding, someone would notice if I kept going to some remote area. I've only found one place that my dad worked out of before his 'accident'." There was traces of bitterness in his voice, but he hid them well enough that I almost believed that they weren't there. "I started using this place soon after I took up his mantle, because it is closer to the area where I perform most of my heists. This way I won't accidently get caught with any Kid gear on me while I'm around people I know."

"Wouln' th' people 'ere no-ice if ya kept comin' 'ere 'fore and afte' heists?"

"No, I've never actually come here as myself before. I'm usually in different disguises when I get here and when I leave."

"Makes sense, now can we go? I don't really like just standing here, it makes me nervous." I wasn't lying. For some reason, I had felt like we were being watched, but after a scan of the area revealed nothing I just fell in step behind Kaito once again.

After only a few more minutes of walking we stopped at what appeared to be an abandoned shop. Kaito walked in with us close behind him. I wasn't really surprising when kid walked into what looked like the storage room and tapped randomly on a wall. It was surprising, however; when the floorboards on the other side of the room flipped open to reveal a short staircase.

"After you detectives." I turned back to look at Kaito. He looked extremely nervous, surely he had done this a million times, why would it make him nervous this time. Hattori must have noticed as well, but he voiced his opinions better than I did once we were in the hidden room.

"Wha's wron' wit' ya?" Very blunt, I'm sure he will tell you everything you want to know with that attitude, I thought to myself.

"What are you talking about? Other than my previous injuries, which you know about, I don't think that there is anything wrong."

I was listening to the other two as I took a look around. It was just a simple three room layout. All the rooms were small, but completely functional. It almost reminded me of a small apartment. The first room was a kitchen/dining/living area, while the second room had more of a bedroom setup with a door off to the right side; I assumed it was probably the bathroom. The third room was the one I took the most interest in though. There were a few small work surfaces one of which had a computer and several gadgets lying randomly on top. There were more gadgets scattered around the room. There was an open door closet and I could see the Kid outfits shoved back in the corner.

I hadn't really said anything while we were walking, but I did feel a little more comfortable in the underground area. I knew that no one else would be listening.

"Don't lie to us please. Ever since we entered the building upstairs you've been tense. Hattori just wants to know why, if you felt anything you need to tell us. We are working on this together after all."

"I don't think I like being read like an open book by detectives…" He looked back at us with a defeated look in his eyes. "Before we entered the building I did feel like someone was watching us, but I took a scan of the area, and I know that you two did as well. None of us saw anything, right?"

I thought I had been the only one to have the feeling, but by Hattori's expression after Kaito's words, I knew I was wrong.

"Okay, but you didn't start acting tense until we entered the building? The feeling outside was probably just someone watching us from the other side of the street. They weren't watching us anymore when we came in the building."

"Ah, you are referring to that. Forgive me for being a little bit tense after letting two detectives into my hideout. After this is all over, I won't be able to use this spot anymore. I was just wondering if I would be able to move everything out of here before the police found out about this location…"

He thought we were going to give this location to the police. It hadn't even crossed my mind that he would be worried about something like that.

"''re ya crazy?"

Kaito and myself look half bewildered by Hattori's sudden outburst.

"If I 'now Kudo lik' I thin' I do, the' he ain't gonna turn ya in, afte' 'is whole me' 's straighten' out 'm sure 'e'll try ta catch ya fair and square. As fer me, I cat' murd'rs, I don' care 'bout a thief runnin' 'round tryin' 'is bes' ta keep ev'ry one 'live."

Kaito looked thoroughly shocked, he turned to me and I let a small grin slip. I completely agreed with Hattori. When I caught Kid it wasn't going to be because I used something against him that I had gotten while he was trying to help me.

"As far as the detectives are inside of us, they were never here." Relief flooded over the thief's face and it appeared like the world had been taken off his shoulders. I figured he would have assumed a truce at the beginning like I had. It never occurred to me that he thought I would turn him in when we were done. It just showed me how much resolve he had to catch these people.

"I don't even know how to react to that…"

"Don' wor'y 'bout 't. We 're not gonna use anythin' we fin' in 'ere agains' ya. Although I can' promise tha' I won' pla' 'ith 't a 'bit."

"Don't you dare. If you find something and don't know how to work it, bring it to me. I don't want you getting yourself hurt or filling this place up with smoke or something."

It surprised me at the willingness the thief had to show Hattori how to use his equipment, but then again we would probably have to end up using his equipment once we were able to begin Plan B.


	12. Chapter 12

**I updated later today then I said I would start doing, but only because I had to drive to a town 2 hours away this morning. I had 2 separate orthodontist appointments, one to get my braces off and one to get my retainer! Okay, moving on…I might miss a couple of days on updating. I'm sorry! I will do my best to keep updating, but I also need to get my research paper, Spanish project, history project, and College Algebra papers done at some point. **

**I have also had these chapters written for awhile and was just tweaking them before updating. I have run out of finished chapters. It won't take me long to type them up; I already have them written down. I just need to make changes and put them on my computer. At most this should put me updating every other day instead of everyday, possibly missing one extra day now and then, but I WILL NOT drop the story! I hope you will all bear with me, after I get caught up I should go back to regular updates. **

It had been several hours since we had left Jii at the pool hall. We were expecting him to come in with Nakamori-keibu at any time. While we were waiting Kaito had taken this time to try and drink down a juice and eat something small. He said it made him feel sick, but he managed to hold it down.

Hattori was introducing himself to Kid's gadgets, true to what he had said earlier. Occasionally he would come across one that he couldn't figure out so he would take it to the magician and Kaito would demonstrate how to use each one, unless of course it had sleeping gas or something in it. In the pile of gadgets was a box of random chargers and plug-ins. I dug through it and found one that would fit my phone since it didn't seem like I would have time to go to my house to get mine.

I spent my time watching Hattori and memorizing each one of the gadgets he held so that if we did end up with a need for them, I wouldn't slow us down by not knowing how to use them.

Shortly before Jii and Nakamori were due to show up Kaito stood up and began walking out of the gadget room.

"Sorry guys, I would love to stay and play some more, but I don't feel particularly good right now. When Jii gets here will you tell him that I went to lay down for a bit?"

Hattori was too distracted to notice that the magician had stood to leave the room, so I simply nodded to him assuring him that I would.

Around an hour passed after Kaito had gone to lie down before we heard the latch from the secret door swing open. Hattori glanced up from the new gadget he had found before deciding that it was safe to continue trying to figure it out.

Kaito-kun, Hattori-kun, Kudo-kun, are you guys here?" Nakamori's voice carried from the entrance to the room we were in even though he appeared to be trying to keep his voice low.

"We are back here Nakamori-keibu." I walked to the doorway so he would be able to see what room my voice had come from.

"Where is the young master?" Jii asked worriedly

"He asked me to tell you that he would be in the next room lying down because he didn't feel well." My explanation to Jii was brief and the old man walked to the bedroom door, quietly opening it.

At some point Hattori had come to stand next to me and Nakamori in the doorway of Kaito's room. Jii proceeded to check his temperature and several other things before turning to Hattori and myself.

"Did he eat or drink anything at all before he lay down?"

"Not much, but he did drink a little bit of juice and eat a few crackers. Is something wrong with him?" I was starting to get worried with every second that passed by.

"No, he seems to be doing just fine. I just wanted to make sure that he at least tried to get something down since he didn't hook up an IV to himself."

All three of us standing in the doorway let out breaths that we didn't even realize we were holding until that point. We looked back and forth between each other and allowed ourselves to laugh, even if only for a moment.

"So Keibu-han, di' an'one ask ya whe' ya was las' nigh'?"

Truthfully I has been about to ask the same thing. We needed his help with this case, but we didn't need anyone suspecting that he was working with Kid. It would make him a sitting target for 'them'.

"No, it seems like one of my men saw me go into the building before the explosion and had spread around the task force that I was a little bit injured and went to the hospital."

I was nervous again. "How did he know to say that?"

"Oh, right I forgot that you were on the roof. I called a trusted task force member and asked him to tell that to everyone. He was a little unbelieving at first, but it only took a minute to convince him."

"You guys talk too much, how is a guy supposed to sleep?"

Everyone turned to Kaito when we heard him speak. No one really made a move, but Hattori and I shared a grin before turning back to Kaito.

"W-why are you guys looking at me like that?" He stuttered quickly glancing between Hattori and myself.

"Haven't you realized? Earlier you were worried about me and Hattori in here, but now Nakamori-keibu is here as well. We made a promise not to use this as evidence against you, but who says that he will keep up the same truce as us?"

It was an awful thing to do to him. Toying with him especially right now probably wouldn't help anything, but we just couldn't resist.

"Ya 'now, seein' as 's th' task force head an' all."

For a moment I could have sworn I had seen a flash of regret cross the magicians features, but it was gone in an instant. He caught onto our joking pretty quick and turned to Nakamori.

"Keibu-san, I'm sorry, but I can't let you use any information you find here. I will have all of it removed so quick that you would doubt that it was ever even here."

Nakamori saw this as a direct challenge and before Hattori and I realized what we had started, Kaito and Nakamori were both shaking on a bet they had come up with. After the organization was gone Nakamori was free to come back to the hideout and gather any evidence he wanted, but he had to get in by himself with no assistance. Of course that meant that asking Jii how to open the door was against the rules as was bringing anyone in from the task force to help.

Nakamori was so sure that he was going to win the bet; he must have watched how Jii had opened the door. But, at the same time Kaito looked equally if not more confident, which left one wondering what exactly he had planned.

"I don' wan' ta ruin yer fun, bu' I thin' we need ta d' some stor' swappin'."

Nakamori and Kaito both looked at the Osakan and after a moment of thought, they decided that he was right. They also decided that I should tell my story first, although I'm not really sure why Nakamori didn't use the opportunity to figure Kaito out immediately. If nothing else, the man was patient.

I once again began my story, mostly for Nakamori, since he was the only one who didn't fully know what had happened. It had taken longer to tell it this time then when I had told Kaito, because Hattori kept interrupting when he was upset about him not knowing something. I simply told him that I tried to keep him as informed as I could but sometimes so many things happened at once that a few slipped my mind.

"So, are there any questions?" The question was aimed at Nakamori.

"I do, but I think they will probably be answered in Kaito-kun's explanation." He turned to Kaito. "And don't you dare skimp on the details. I want to know everything possible."

"I will tell you everything I can. I don't think there is a need to hide anything anymore anyway. If this goes as planned there won't be a need for Kid anymore."

"Wait…I have a question before you start." It had just occurred to me. How on earth had I forgotten to ask earlier? "Did you check the jewel? I mean, is it Pandora."

Nakamori and Hattori looked between the two of us, confused.

"Of course, while you guys were sleeping. You and Hattori were on the cots and Nakamori-ojisan fell asleep in the chair by my bed. I assumed that since you were all totally out of it. I woke up sometime around 4 the day after the heist and waited until the moon came out. I expected at least one of you to wake up, but no one did, so I took it outside on my own."

It had taken Nakamori a second to realize that Kaito was saying that he climbed up to the roof of the pool hall only a few hours after he had been injured, but once he realized it…Well let's just say it's amazing that we can all still hear and that no one followed his voice into the abandoned store above us.

Once his screaming died down, Kaito took the chance to uncover his head a bit to see if the inspector was going to strangle him.

"I needed to see if it was the correct jewel or not. If it wasn't then that would mean that everything that happened at the heist was for nothing."

Nakamori was obviously still pissed beyond our comprehension, but he settled down slightly and gestured for Kaito to go on with his explanation. We all found chairs and gathered at the end of the bed where Kaito was now sitting and waited for him to begin. Jii was the only one who didn't join us. He excused himself to the small kitchen area, under the pretense of making everyone something to eat, but he stayed within earshot.

"Okay, I'm going to tell you everything about Kid. That will be the easiest way to explain the jewel, but so tantei-kun isn't rushing me too much, I'll tell you now that, yes the stone reacted…"

I sat in silence dumbfounded. I never really believed the story about the Pandora Gem, but if it had really reacted…It could be a trick, but I was sure that Kaito would have checked already. By the time I had gotten my thoughts at least somewhat together Kaito had told most of his story. I was glad that he had told me the story before so I wouldn't be confused on anything.

"I'm not sure if I believe the story about the jewel granting immortality, but it doesn't matter what I believe. Obviously these people believe in its powers enough to kill for them."

Nakamori's eyes were closed and his fists were clenched. He was extremely mad about the reasons that Kaito had been injured, but he did understand the boys need to protect other people. It was the reason he had become a police officer.

We all sat lost in their own thoughts about the stories that had just been set in front of them. Until Jii reentered the room with something that smelled delicious, Kaito even looked up readily excepted the plate handed to him.

"Kaito-bochama, you need to eat slowly!"

Despite Jii's warnings the magician was eating faster than the rest of us.

"Jii-cchhaaannnnnn, I was hungry. I couldn't eat slow, my stomach felt like it was trying to digest itself. Can I have a juice?"

"Alright, alright, I'll be right back."

Everyone laughed at how childish Kaito was acting. He seemed to be feeling better after he'd woken up. If he healed at the rate he claimed to be able to, we might be able to move in less than ten day. A few moments later my phone, which was still on the charger, rang. I excused myself from the room to go answer it. It was Ran's number.

"Hello Ran."

"Hmm, it seems moving those two girls to the Mouri Detective Agency wasn't as good of an idea as you thought…"

My blood ran cold. She wasn't even trying to hide her voice. Vermouth had Ran's phone and she knew about Kazuha and Aoko. Not good.

**So, what do you think? Were the girls kidnapped or did Vermouth just steal Ran's phone? I don't know yet either…I don't have writers block, I have a chapter in mind one way or the other, I just want some reader feedback. What do you think should happen?**


	13. Chapter 13

**I AM SO SORRY! I haven't updated in forever! I would have updated a lot sooner, but with the snow and ice and everything (We got like a foot and a half!) I wasn't able to get on the internet for like five days! I am back on now obviously and I will try to get some more chapters up asap. I said this in a past chapter but as a reminder, I am attending high school and college and I do have to do homework for both. I might not get to update every single day but I will update when I have the time and will be regularly. I don't own Detective Conan or any of its characters.**

A few moments later my phone, which was still on the charger, rang. I excused myself from the room to go answer it. It was Ran's number.

"Hello Ran."

"Hmm, it seems moving those two girls to the Mouri Detective Agency wasn't as good of an idea as you thought…"

My blood ran cold. She wasn't even trying to hide her voice. Vermouth had Ran's phone and she knew about Kazuha and Aoko. Not good.

"What do you want?" The hate and venom was apparent in my voice, causing all the joking and messing around in the next room to stop.

"Kudo, wha's wron'…" I held up my hand signaling Hattori to be quiet; something about me must have told him I was serious, because he actually did it.

"Now, is that anyway to talk to a lady? I just called to tell you how happy I am that you have gotten your body back."

"How…I don't care who you are! Where are Ran and the other girls?" I had at least managed to make my voice even, but there was no way I was going to be able to calm down knowing that Vermouth was close enough to the girls to take Ran's phone.

"Now, now, calm down. They are fine. They were shopping the last time I saw them. When Angel gets home she will realize that someone pick-pocketed her phone. She will probably use either Aoko-chan's or Kazuha-chan's to call and tell you as much. I'm not going to hurt them, I just wanted you to know that if I was going to, I could. I left a trail for your little FBI agents, I'm curious to know why they haven't made a move yet."

"If you even think…" She cut me off.

"You need to make your move quickly Silver Bullet-kun. I don't think that they will stay in one place for more than 6 days. I just wanted to let you know. I will be waiting. Oh and bring the phantom as well as the Osakan. They could make things interesting."

"Vermouth…" There was a click and the line went dead. I cursed not exactly under my breath. The others were fully aware of the situation. They had heard me answer the phone with Ran's name. I tried to call back, but with no luck. She must have turned the phone off.

"Kudo…" I was only vaguely aware of anyone else in the room at the moment, I could hear Hattori talking to me but it wasn't really getting through. Vermouth had been close enough to Ran to take her phone. She knew about the girls being together, but she didn't do anything? It didn't make any sense…

"Kudo! Wha' di' sh' say?" There was no way I could have missed it that time. He was yelling loud enough to wake the dead.

I briefly explained the situation to the others before Kaito took out a phone.

"I'm going to call Aoko. I won't mention anything about Ran-chan's phone, but I want to make sure that Vermouth wasn't lying about not touching them."

His voice was deep and I had a feeling that if he had been able to get hold of Vermouth at that instant, then she probably wouldn't have survived. Nakamori noticed this as well. I half expected the man to try and jump through the phone when he heard that Vermouth had Aoko, but he was so taken aback by Kaito's actions and tone that he didn't know what to do or say. He moved closer to Kaito to try and hear the conversation.

Kaito held the phone to his ear waiting for an answer. After several rings he was starting to look desperate, as was Nakamori. Hattori had his phone out and had Kazuha's number dialed ready to push call the moment Kaito hung up. Everyone was on edge and no one would calm down at all until we were sure the girls were safe.

"Kaito! Why haven't you called until now!" He pulled the phone away from his ear in an attempt to keep his hearing.

"Baka, I've been busy. I thought you would be excited that I finally had a chance to call."

Everyone in the room let out a relieved sigh, including Jii. He knew how important the girl was to Kaito. Hattori put away his phone for the moment. Kaito and Aoko continued to argue back and for between each other for some time before Kaito decided to get off.

"Aoko, we will come see you guys later today, if we get a chance." He looked around the room to make sure that no one had any arguments. Aoko said something after that, but it was too quiet for us to hear anymore. After goodbyes were said, Kaito hung up the phone. It didn't seem like Ran had noticed that her phone was gone.

"We need to get them out of town…" I hadn't really been meaning to say it out loud, but everyone was thinking the same thing.

"I have a contact that can get them on a plane under false names. She owes me a favor anyway. We can go see them, then talk them into getting on the plane."

I didn't take much planning. We were going to tell them that the case was going to take a lot longer than we thought it would, and since the schools were on vacation we thought that they should have fun. After a quick call to mine and Kazuha's parents, and to Kaito or Kid's contact the plan was set. The tickets would be waiting when they arrived.

"Shoul' 'e go see 'em now?"

"I think it would be best. Aoko's going to know that you are lying to her Kaito." Nakamori looked worried, but who wouldn't be.

"None o' 'em are gon'a 'lieve us. I don' thin' th' 'll argue though."

"That's probably true, but we can't have them here if it's going to put them in danger though."

"I'll stay here. Call me if you need anything young master."

With a nod from Kaito and no further objections we left to meet with the girls as promised. When we arrived the girls were all in Ran's bedroom, probably talking about girl stuff, so Kogoro opened the door.

"What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were missing or something. Go away; Ran doesn't want anything to do with you anymore. She moved on and has a new boyfriend now!"

Everyone busted out laughing and Kogoro looked confused. About that time Ran and the girls walked into the room.

"What's everyone laughing for?" Ran asked. She must have heard what her dad had been saying. She looked at him sharply before holding up her fist.

"N-nothing Ran. I-I was just welcoming these young men in and…" He glanced back. "N-nakamori-keibu, please come in. Don't mind what I was saying. Everyone please come in and have a seat."

"Dad? Are you helping them with their case?"

"Yes, Kaito-kun called me and said that he and a couple of his friends needed some help from the police. I told him that I would help."

With Aoko's questions answered, we walked into the living area of the house and began goofing off having a good time. There may not be another chance for it for a while. Even with Kaito being as cautious as he was being, he still managed to make Aoko mad. She didn't miss his expression when she playfully hit him.

"K-kaito, I'm sorry….Did I hit you too hard. I didn't mean to…I…"

"Don't worry about it Aoko, I'm just sore. I was trying a new magic trick, but before I began a nosy detective tampered with my equipment. He thought he put it all back where it was supposed to go, but he missed one little piece. It threw the whole thing off."

Kaito glanced accusingly at Hattori, before giving him an apologetic look when he saw Kazuha's expression. The next few minutes were filled with accusations and arguing back and forth between the two, while the rest of us couldn't help but laugh at the poor Osakan detective. I looked at the clock; it was almost time for the girls' flight.

"Hey, Hattori, Kaito, it's time."

Kazuha was still fuming, but at my sudden announcement everyone settle back into their seats.

Kaito, Hattori, and I took turns explaining our 'reason' for sending the girls to America. Worry passed over all of their expressions at some point, but they covered it as quick as it had appeared. Kogoro started to object to Ran going, but after a glance from her and a slight punch to the wall on her part, he decided against it. He left the room mumbling something about stupid teenage boys and who was going to make his dinner.

"'Zuha, we 'ready talk'd ta yer dad. 'e said tha' since 'here's a brea' at school, 'e 's oka' 'ith 't."

"'m oka' 'ith 't, bu' 're ya sure tha' yer tellin' us everythin'?"

"'Course, no' go git yer stuff, or 'e 're gonna miss yer plane."

All the girls filed back into Ran's room talking about all the things they were going to do in America. Kogoro came back into the room soon after the girls were out of earshot.

"Boy, I know you are sending them away for a reason and I know you aren't going to tell me why. If anything happens to Ran, the famous Kudo Shinichi will disappear again and no one will find him this time."

"I know. We have no intentions of letting anything happen to any of them and if anything does it will be because I wasn't around to stop it."

Kogoro looked between all of us. He wasn't as stupid as everyone thought he was. He just wasn't good on focusing on things right in front of him usually. The girls came back in the room.

"Dad, if you are threatening Shinichi again, so help me…" She let the threat hang in the air. Normally Kogoro would have back away and shuttered, but this time he just looked back at me.

"No, I wasn't threatening him; I was just wishing them good luck on their case and offering my assistance if they get stuck again."

"I don't believe you, but I'll let it slide for now. Have you seen my phone?"

"No, didn't you take it to the mall with you earlier? Maybe you left it somewhere?"

Ran insisted that I help her look, while Kazuha drug Hattori off the couch to assist. Kaito had gotten up willingly, most likely fearing that Aoko would try to drag him off as well. He must not usually help so willingly because Aoko gave him a worried glance, but didn't say anything about it.

"Oi, Ran. If we don't leave now, you guys are going to miss your flight. When you get off the plane and meet with my parents tell them your phone is missing. They have my old one. I accidently left it there on my last visit. It should have most of the same numbers saved in it as well."

I halfway expected her to argue, but she just agreed and we set off towards the airport. Less than an hour later, we were watching the plane take off into the night. Of course we checked the plane and flight attendants as well as the pilot before takeoff, without the girls managing to notice. We returned to Kid's base and decided to call it a night. The next day would be an exciting one.


	14. Chapter 14

**Here it is! It's starting to heat up now, maybe we can get to an actual confronation before long. XD I know kinda how I want the rest of this story to go, but not exactly soooo if you have any ideas that you want to share, feel free. Let me know if you like this chapter or if you don't. I don't own anything associated with Detective Conan, but I have been told that dreams do come true. Thank you all for reading and by all means review or send me a personal message. I'll update again soon.**

"Hey Kaito, wake up. We're almost there."

I shook his good shoulder lightly, careful not to hurt him. After leaving the airport we flagged down a cab to take us back to the area near Kid's hideout. Kaito had fallen asleep almost immediately. We decided to let him sleep until we got close, we couldn't do anything in the cab anyway.

"Hmm…ok."

"Thank you, you can stop anywhere in this area is fine." Nakamori spoke to the cabbie.

We were still a few minutes away from the abandoned store but we didn't want any questions on why we were going there. The cabbie pulled over and everyone climbed out. Nakamori, Hattori, and I stood and waited for the cabbie to turn the corner while Kaito went to lean on the nearest light pole.

"'re ya oka'?"

"Fine…ummm…Nakamori-san, will you help me a little bit?" The magician was the best at making all of us stop what we were doing and start worrying.

"Kaito-kun, don't be lying or hiding anything from us."

We all stood stock still waiting for him to make some kind of response.

"Really, it's nothing to be too worried about…"

Nakamori made his way to Kaito's side allowing the boy to use him for support. Luckily it was late enough that most of the shops had closed up for the night and there wasn't anyone really close enough to see or hear what was going on. Everyone's eyes were still on the magician and no one made to make a move. We were going to sit there until he gave us a straight answer.

Kaito let out a sigh. "Alright, like I told you, it really isn't that big of a deal. Aoko isn't known to be the most gentle girls in the world. Earlier when everyone was helping find Ran-san's phone she pulled me off to the side and asked what really happened. I kept telling her that some idiot detective messed with my equipment, but she insisted that it was a lie. So, to prove her point that I was more injured than I was letting on she chased me with her mop. I convinced her that it wasn't really as bad as she thought it was, she only managed to hit me once." He grimaced slightly at the memory. "On top of that I had to disguise myself at the airport to check out the plane. I just pushed myself a little too quickly and now I'm tired."

He looked down at the ground almost ashamed that he had admitted that Kuroba Kaito –aka- Kid the Phantom Thief was tired. It was a moment before Hattori and I busted out laughing at his expression and when Nakamori looked at Kaito's face he joined in as well. He looked somewhat like a little kid who hadn't gotten his way.

"Shut-up!" He exclaimed half-joking.

"Come on; let's get him back to the store before he really does collapse. I don't really want to actually carry him." We set off on the short walk towards the store.

When we reached the opening to the alley two things happened at once; Kaito relieved himself of Nakamori's help and we saw the outer part of the abandoned store. The windows were gone and the front of it was charred black.

Kaito was the first one to the building. He must have gotten a sudden burst of adrenaline. The first thing I noticed was that nothing was hot anymore. The building couldn't have been on fire for long before it was put out. The next thing was the storage room with the hidden door in it. It was almost completely untouched by the flames.

"What the hell happened?" Nakamori was the first to speak, but no one answered. We couldn't have if we had wanted to.

Kaito was busying himself trying to get the mechanism he used to open the trap door before to work, but no matter how many times he tried it, it remained closed. After a few failed attempts he resorted to trying to open it manually.

"'ey ya don' nee' ta be doin' tha'! Yer gonna hur' yerself 'ven worse!"

"Jii-chan was still down there! I'm not going to just sit here; I have to make sure that he is okay!"

Nakamori was at his side before anyone else could move. He pulled Kaito away from the door trying to be as gentle as possible.

"Kaito-kun we will get the door open, but you aren't going to hurt yourself trying to do it. Please sit down and we will get it open, I promise." Nakamori's voice was calm and even, but there was a touch to it that suggested he wasn't asking Kaito to do anything, he was telling him.

I went straight to work on the door with Hattori. Kaito refused to sit down, but he at least stop fighting and trying to get back at to the door. Once Nakamori came over to help us, we had the door pried open within minutes.

"'m gonna wait 'p 'ere. I don' 'now why th' fire 'as start'd, bu' 't wasn' 'n accident. 'here 're some thin's tha' don' look righ' 'p 'ere. I wanna ma' sure tha' no one tr's ta come down the'r 'ith us."

"I agree. I'll stay at the bottom of the stairs while Kaito and Nakamori-san look around for Jii-chan. If you see anyone let me know."

Kaito was already down in the small area looking for Jii before Hattori and I finished talking. I gestured for Nakamori to go with him and I followed him down.

The hidden area wasn't very big, so it only took a few minutes for Kaito to check all the places Jii could have been, but he wasn't anywhere to be found in the small rooms. Kaito came back to the foot of the stairs with Nakamori right behind him.

"He wasn't here when the fire started. I don't know where he went, but he wasn't here." Kaito looked both relieved and panicked at the same time.

"Is there anywhere that he would have left you a note, if he had gone out?" I figured Kaito had already thought of that. I just wanted to cover base and make sure there was nothing here, but a flash of realization crept on the magicians face.

"Of course!" Kaito rushed back out of the room with the stairs and into the gadget room. I stayed at the foot of the steps in case Hattori needed to call down, but Nakamori once again took off after him. "How could I have forgotten? When we are here, if Jii ever needs to leave a message he puts it in a small hidden compartment in the closet."

The area was small so I could hear what Kaito was saying. I felt relieved when I heard him say that he had found a note. Jii had gone back to the pool hall and would be staying the night there so he could open in the morning, but he would come by to cook dinner for us. Right after I also heard Hattori yell down the stairs.

"Kudo, e's up 'ere!"

Kaito and Nakamori must have also heard him, because they were at the foot of stairs before I had a chance to even turn around. Kaito was the first one to reach Hattori, how he managed to at all with his injuries I would never know.

"Young master! What happened?"

"That's what we were trying to figure out. What time did you leave and did you see anyone suspicious?"

"Soon after you did, and no; there wasn't anyone around here that looked suspicious to me."

We told Jii everything that we had learned from the patterns and location of the fire. We also told him about how the mechanism for the door was disabled. He was shocked about the entire situation. After we completed the story he watched our movements as we examined everything. There wasn't any major damage, everything was just charred black. After resealing the hidden door, we headed back to the pool hall.

Nakamori went to help Kaito, but was brushed off. He watched the teen for a few moments before deciding that he wasn't going to fall over and let him have his way, but kept a close eye on him just in case.

Back at the pool hall Kaito was on the computer trying to find anything about what had happened to the abandoned store even though it probably wouldn't be on the news until the next day. Hattori, Nakamori, and I sat in the kitchen talking with Jii as he busied himself making dinner for the five of us.

"What do you think happened Nakamori-san?"

"I'm not really sure; there was one spot that was burned more than the rest so I assume that's where the fire started. It didn't look like any accelerants were used. It's possible that it was just someone walking by and threw their cigarette down or something."

"'ith ever'thin' happenin' th' 'ay 't 's , 'e can' assume 't wasn' 'em either."

"Hattori's right. Vermouth somehow knows that I'm back, she knew where the girls were, and possibly knows that we sent them away."

"Do you think this woman will follow the girls?" Jii stopped what he was doing for a moment and turned to me. "If she does, you know that the young master will disregard his own life to keep Aoko-chan safe."

"In all honesty, I think the same goes for the rest of us…No, I don't think Vermouth will go after them. She would have made a move when she found out about them. Instead she called and told me that she knew where they were. She gave us a chance to get them away."

There was a long silence before Nakamori spoke again.

"What makes you think that she wasn't just toying with you?"

Another silence. I didn't know what to say. Vermouth had helped me on a few occasions. I didn't really think she was a bad person so much as someone stuck in the circumstances.

"Kudo, I 'ave th' sam' feelin' 'bout 'er. 'hy woul' sh' leave a trail fer th' FBI an' 's ta follow?"

"Right, she's never made a move to actually hurt Ran, even though I'm pretty sure she knows about me being Conan. I think she either wants a one on one between us, or she wants us to put a stop to the organization."

Nakamori looked between the two of us. "I can't believe how long you three have been going against these people…It makes me glad that I'm on the same side as you kids. Who knows how long these people would have stayed in the shadows before someone had the courage to come forward."

Jii spoke up. "Now Nakamori-san, some people might consider it idiocy. These young men have very different ways of approaching these people, but maybe that's why they are still alive."

Kaito burst into the room, "It wasn't an accident!"

"How do you know that?" How on earth did he find information about it at this time?

"I have a contact in the fire department that knows about them. He doesn't know any details and he keeps a low profile, so they don't know about him. I got in contact with him and asked if he knew anything about it…" He trailed off.

Normally it would have been Hattori that lost his patience first, but Nakamori decided that he really wanted to know the information Kaito had.

"Kaito-kun, what did he say?"

"He said it was ruled an accident. A man threw his cigarette out his window and started the fire."

"Ya jus' sa'd 't wasn' 'n acciden', didn' ya?"

"It wasn't. The person driving the car left before the police and fire department arrived, but a few witnesses saw an unfamiliar car right before the fire started."

"Why would it matter if there was an unfamiliar car there, it is a local shopping place. It could have been anybody."

"True, but the reason most people remembered it was because it was a black Porsche 356A. There aren't many of them here, they said that they drive was a tall man with silver hair dressed completely in black…"

Hattori and I froze. Kaito didn't seem to noticed and kept on talking. Nakamori wasn't so distracted though to miss it. It didn't occur to me to mention Gin's car to anyone during the explanations…


	15. Chapter 15

**Sorry guys this one is really short compared to the other chapters, but there wasn't really a lot that needed to be put here. It just gives some association theories. I will update soon though, and I know that this has been slow for awhile, but believe me when I tell you that there will be more action! So please try not to get bored with me. I haven't been replying to all the reviews, but I will try to do better at that I really do read them all and take them all into consideration so please keep it up. I haven't been able to update because the snow and ice is giving my internet fits. There is still ice outside and it's been over a week ago. I know that I'm just rambling now, but I hope that no one has given up on this story I really wish I could have updated sooner but our internet doesn't work hardly when there is ice…I also had a request to take out Heiji's accent, I know I'm not good at it, but I left it in this chapter. If everyone else agrees that it should be taken out, please send me a message or leave a review and I will fix it. Thanks everyone, Sk8rgrl8624 out!**

**I don't own anything Detective Conan, but one of these days that may change…or not…**

"_True, but the reason most people remembered it was because it was a black Porsche 356A. There aren't many of them here, they said that they drive was a tall man with silver hair dressed completely in black…"_

_Hattori and I froze. Kaito didn't seem to noticed and kept on talking. Nakamori wasn't so distracted though to miss it. It didn't occur to me to mention Gin's car to anyone during the explanations…_

"What are the chances of someone in a black car, in black clothes; it has to be them…"

Kaito kept rambling on; completely oblivious that no one was even listening anymore. Nakamori and Jii had turned their attention to us. Kaito was going on about how we needed to figure out which member it was. He hadn't jumped to the same conclusion. Black Porsche, black clothes, silver hair…

"Kaito-kun…Kaito-kun! Will you stop talking for a minute? These two either already know who was in that car, or they both suddenly came down with a cold." Nakamori seemed to lose any patience he had with Kaito in an instant.

Kaito stopped talking. He glanced at us both sitting there heads down and hands clasped in our laps. A look of realization hit him.

"It was the one you told me about before." There wasn't any hint in his voice that he was asking a question. "The one that poisoned you."

"Y-yeah, I forgot to mention the type of car he drives when we had our explanation session. For some reason my brain deemed it irrelevant."

"Kudo, ya don' thin' Vermouth tol' 'im do ya?"

I took his question into consideration for a while before answering. Vermouth hadn't told anyone about me before, why would she start now? If anything, you could say that she had been helping me…

"No. I don't think she did. She's set me up to go one on one with her, but she's never brought in any other members. From what I've seen, she works in the organization but not really for it. She has her own agenda and what scares me most is that I can't figure out what it is."

Everyone was silent for a moment before Kaito glanced in Jii's direction. His expression didn't change but his body language screamed worry.

"Jii-chan."

"What is it young master?"

Kaito was silent for a while before he continued talking to the old man.

"I want you and my mom to take a vacation. If they knew to target that building, it means that they have been watching it. They probably know who we are and that you are associated with me."

His tone didn't leave any room to argue, but the Jii was going to try anyway.

"With all due respect, I am not leaving. I will make sure that your mother gets somewhere safe, but I'm not going to leave."

After a few minutes of heated arguing and some persuasion from Nakamori, Jii agreed, although unwillingly, to take a trip out of the country. With another call to my parents and Kid's contact the tickets were acquired. They would be leaving the next day for America.

"Will this group get curious if everyone related to us starts going to America with seemingly no explanation?"

We explained that we were sending them to the states because my dad had connections with the CIA and FBI. Because of the different security branches the US has, the organization was probably least active there. Everyone agreed.

Jii set dinner out on one of the tables in the pool hall. Kaito had claimed not to be hungry but Jii all but threatened to drop him into a koi pond if he didn't eat. After dinner Kaito entertained Hattori with some more of his gadgets, Nakamori and Jii sat at the bar talking, while I found a section of books on Jii's shelf that wasn't medical. It included Sherlock Holmes books.

It was probably 11 or so when Jii stood saying he was tired and would be turning in to his bed and that we were welcome to the cots and bed in the back room. It wasn't fifteen minutes later before we were all asleep trying not to think of what would happen within the next few days.


	16. Chapter 16

**I turned in my research paper yesterday, so hopefully I will be able to update a little bit more regularly. I probably should have waited until after I was done with my paper to start posting, but the idea just kept bouncing around in my head. I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while again. Please don't give up on me yet I will try to make to updates more consistent. **

"So…What do we do now?" Nakamori had been the first one up, but only by a few minutes. With Jii, the girls, and Kuroba-san out of the way there was less to worry about, but there was still a lot. This meant that none of us could sleep through even the slightest sounds except Hattori…

"We're going to have to meet with Kudo's FBI contact and figure out what information they have. We can decide what to do after that." Kaito gestured towards me as he was speaking. I was still trying to wake the Osakan detective with no luck. Even though he was one edge like the rest of us, when he saw it was me trying to wake him and there was no danger he refused to even move.

"I'm still worried about Kuroba's injuries, but he is right. We do need to talk to Jodie-san and plan our next move." Kuroba moved to help me wake up the sleeping detective, while Nakamori just stood by looking somewhat amused by the scene playing out before him.

I was shaking him and trying to haul him to his feel, while Kuroba was knocking on his head and asking if anyone was home. When he still refused to open his eyes, even though he was obviously not sleeping anymore, Kuroba decided to get creative.

I don't know what he pulled out of his pocket and put on Hattori, but I knew that I didn't want to be near him when it went off, so I just let him slide to the floor and went to stand by Nakamori and Kaito.

"What did you…?" I leaned to ask what Kuroba had placed on Hattori, but I was cut off by a small explosion next to the detective. When I turned to see what cause it I couldn't help but laugh as the smoke cleared. Hattori was covered from head to toe in what appeared to be a pink paint with neon green stripes on his shirt.

"Wha' d' ya thin' yer doin'? Can' a guy git sum sleep 'round 'ere? We 're 'bout ta take down a ring o' criminals fer cryin' out lou'!" He hadn't noticed what Kaito's bomb had done to him and nobody could take him seriously. It just made him even madder when we laughed at him. It took a moment, but Nakamori was able to point to the bathroom and say 'mirror'.

"Wha' th' hell'd ya do ta me?" He screamed from the bathroom, which made us fall into another fit of laughter.

"Will you stop screaming, you are making me laugh. I'm still hurt and this isn't helping in the least." Kaito was joking but Hattori didn't seem to catch on. He looked regretful for a moment before he remembered exactly who it was that had dyed him pink and green.

He fell into another fit, yelling and chasing the thief around the room only half serious. After a few more minutes of taking out his frustration he disappeared back into the bathroom to wash off the paint.

"Kaito-kun, did you really have to do that? You know he is never going to sleep good again." Nakamori had long since lost the need to be the adult in the group. He knew what we had been through to get this far into this mess and didn't view us as he usually would a normal teenager.

"I needed a good laugh before this whole things starts again. Don't tell me that you didn't need that just a little bit." Kaito was only slightly winded from his chase with Hattori. That was a good sign, we were going to have to move quickly and it could be disastrous if he was still too injured to run.

Hattori reemerged from the bathroom after about ten minutes, his skin and hair color back to normal, but his clothes were still pink and green.

"I'm sorry Hattori, I forgot to tell you. That is a special dye that my dad developed. It will come off skin with most any soap, but you need this to get it out of clothes. No water required, just go in the bathroom, push this button, and hold your breath."

If looks could kill, Kaito wouldn't be around with us helping stop the organization. The glare Hattori sent him would have sent chills down my spine if I wasn't so busy laughing. Hattori took the capsule and disappeared yet again.

An hour later, Hattori was back to his normal clothes and skin color, we had all finished eating breakfast, and I had called Jodie to set up a meeting so that we could move along in our plans. We decided to take a risk and meet with her at my house.

Seeing as we weren't too far from Nakamori's house, we walked there to retrieve his car. It wasn't really a long way to my house but we didn't want to risk running into Vermouth or anyone who might be staking out the area. With traffic taking the car wasn't much faster than walking, but at least we were covered.

We arrived at my gate about 20 minutes later to find Jodie waiting inside. She must have picked the lock.

"Ah, you're here! You weren't here when I arrived so I let myself in, I hope that's okay." Jodie was always bubbly, but there was something different about her. I was trying to figure it out when I heard something behind me. I turned to find Hattori and Nakamori lying on the ground. I turned to Kaito, just in time to see him dodge an attack from behind. After seeing this I did the same and countered with a kick.

My foot connected with someone, but they didn't so much as flinch before grabbing my ankle and throwing me to the ground. I barely had time to look up before Kaito joined me on the floor in a crumpled heap. He was breathing hard and had his arm drawn in close to his body. I looked to where Jodie was standing only moments before, but in her place was the one person I really did not want to see…Vermouth…


	17. Chapter 17

**So right after we finish our paper we start Lit research...of course. It isn't hard though, just time consuming. I hope that I still have readers out there somewhere. Let me know if you are still there, okay? Anyway I already have the next chapter almost completely written, it's just a matter of when I will be able to post it. Let me know if you have any ideas, questions, comments, constructive critism, ect... I think that there will only be three or four more chapters but it all depends on if I think up anything else to add in last minute. As usual I don't own any characters in this story except Kazaki and I don't like him very much so if you want him, come and get him. He may be making another appearance before long as well.**

_We arrived at my gate about 20 minutes later to find Jodie waiting inside. She must have picked the lock._

_"Ah, you're here! You weren't here when I arrived so I let myself in, I hope that's okay." Jodie was always bubbly, but there was something different about her. I was trying to figure it out when I heard something behind me. I turned to find Hattori and Nakamori lying on the ground. I turned to Kaito, just in time to see him dodge an attack from behind. After seeing this I did the same and countered with a kick._

_My foot connected with someone, but they didn't so much as flinch before grabbing my ankle and throwing me to the ground. I barely had time to look up before Kaito joined me on the floor in a crumpled heap. He was breathing hard and had his arm drawn in close to his body. I looked to where Jodie was standing only moments before, but in her place was the one person I really did not want to see…Vermouth…_

"Is everyone okay?" Everyone appeared to still be conscious.

"We're okay, How is K- he?" Nakamori had already regained himself and checked on Hattori. He was avoiding using Kaito's name or calling him Kid because we weren't really sure who Vermouth thought he was at this time.

"I'm okay. He didn't hit me that hard. I think I might have more to fear from your daughter Nakamori-san." Despite what he claimed, he was holding his right arm closer than usual and had it wrapped around his waist almost protectively.

"Now, now Kid-san there is no need to lie like that. Now I want all four of you to listen closely. Those two men behind you are only hired grunts; they don't know anything about any of this." Vermouth turned to the men who had attacked us. "In fact, you two may leave now. If I ever see you again I just might kill you."

The two men didn't even hesitate before walking out the door leaving us to whatever fate Vermouth may have planned for us. We all made it back to our feet and faced Vermouth.

"Wha'da ya want? Where 're th' rest of yer goons?" The man who hit Hattori hadn't held anything back at all, he was still rubbing the back of his neck where he had been hit the first time and there was a huge bruise already forming under his eye. Nakamori being of slightly larger build wasn't as affected by the hit.

"What do I want? I just wanted Kudo Shinichi, but it seems as if you, Kid, and the Inspector felt as if you wanted to join in on our little game."

"Why did you want me? I didn't know anything about the organization until I met Vodka and Gin, and I don't remember starting anything with you!" To say I was mad would be an understatement. Kaito was standing with his left arm bracing him against the wall and his right still wrapped around himself. It was 4 to 1 if we played this right we would be able to get out.

"You are my Silver Bullet-kun. I guess you could say I need your help. Although I'm guessing that you won't believe me when I tell you what I need help with. That's why I borrowed your Jodie-sensei's identity. Oh, she if fine. She is just a little tied up at the moment. I'm sure it won't be long before she shows up here." Vermouth was now walking towards the door right between the four of us. No one made a move.

"Will you come with me? I phrase it as a question, but you don't really have a choice. Did you really believe that sending Angel and the others out of the country would stop me from finding them? I haven't told anyone where they are, but it is simply a phone call away."

We all froze, we were so careful when we sent them away. How had she known?

"I have no intentions of letting these boys go anywhere with a murder. I don't know what you are talking about when you say sent them out of the country, but they should all be at a sleepover."

Although it was true that Vermouth could be bluffing, I didn't really think that she was.

"Tsk, Tsk Nakamori-keibu. You don't give me enough credit. You see, the Kaito Kid and myself have a lot of contacts in common. Seeing as how I was his father's apprentice, oh, but that is a story for another time. I doubt little Kai-chan even remembers me or Yukiko-chan."

"How do you know my mother?" I was seething by this point and if words or looks for that matter could kill, we wouldn't have to worry about the organization operative presently standing in front of us.

"In good time Silver Bullet-kun, I need your help now and if you don't come with me I will simply send a message to a few of your favorite operatives and we won't have to worry about the girls and old man anymore."

I went to lunge at her when Hattori's hand grabbed my wrist to hold me back. For once the Osakan was being the level headed one.

"If 'e go after 'er now, then 'e don' know wha' sh'll do ta th' girls. Let's listen fer now. Ya never kno' maybe sh' wan's help takin' down th' organization." He gave a wry smile and had he not been holding my wrist I probably would have hit him.

"Come on; let's not fight amongst ourselves right now. I don't like the idea one bit, but I think we need to follow her for now." Kaito was speaking low enough that I didn't think Vermouth could hear, but the smirk on her face told me something different. Hattori released my wrist after he was sure that I wasn't going to bolt after Vermouth again.

"NO! Kid, I'm not about to let a bunch of teenagers and myself be led blindly into a trap!"

"Nakamori-san, I'm not really sure why, but I don't think it is as much of a trap as it seems. She came here practically alone, with only two for lack of better words "hired grunts" and sent them away almost immediately. It's almost like she is making herself vulnerable on purpose to trap us, but I don't think she her motives lie with the organizations based off her actions now and from what Kudo-kun has told me."

He was right. Vermouth was a person who didn't like to lose, so why would she show up to a meeting with two of Japan's greatest detectives, the Kaito Kid, and Nakamori-keibu practically alone. It didn't make sense unless she was trying to keep her motives hidden from the organization.

"I think we should go as well." I almost regretted the words as soon as they had left my mouth, but it seemed like we didn't really have a choice in the matter and everyone realized it.

Within minutes we were all in a car that Vermouth had parked down the street, silver not black. It wasn't until after ten minutes that the silence was broken.

"I really didn't want to drag all of you into this, but to take out Pomerol it seems that there is really no other way."

"So we were right then. You have other motives that don't go along with the organization." I still did quiet believe her and it could still be a trap, but it seemed unlikely.

"I have been involved with them for a long time now. I have never particularly liked them, but when I was young my parents were killed by them. They don't know that I know that and I have spent many years working my way up to becoming the boss' pet. I am now second in command the only one higher is Pomerol and I have only met him a very few times."

"Ya spect us ta believe tha'?" I was sitting up front and turned when Hattori spoke. Kaito was leaned against the door with his eyes closed; Nakamori glancing worriedly at him every few seconds.

"I don't think she's lying to us Hattori-kun. I think Kudo-kun agrees with me on that. She doesn't do anything that doesn't benefit her, and how would lying to us help her?" His eyes were still closed but he was definitely aware of everything that was going on. Nakamori seemed to relax a little after hearing Kaito speak.

"I know only what you boys have told me, but I can usually tell when someone is lying to me and I don't think she is."

"Well, I never really expected you guys to believe me even a little bit. I'm not really sure if that is a good or bad thing, but somehow I think that it will work to our benefit in the long run. For now you can rest. Our destination is about a half an hour out of town. I don't think that you are all totally convinced that I'm not lying and I don't expect you to go to sleep, but please at least try to rest a bit on the ride, especially you Kid-san."

I halfway expected Kaito to make some kind of remark to her but he simply nodded and laid his head back against the seat. Only a few minutes later the car veered sharply to the left and we were heading towards the side of the road.


	18. Chapter 18

**I'm sure everyone is tired of hearing sorry all the time, but here it is again. Sorry it wasn't up sooner, but here it is. In the past week I've work over forty hours, done 3 poem analysis', 4 algebra papers, studied for a history exam (and passed the test), went to my sisters cheer competition, and wrote two chapters for this story...I'm beat...I'm going to go ahead and put up both of the chapters that I wrote, but I haven't had a chance to reread them yet so please let me know if there are any mistakes. I still enjoy reviews when I get the chance to read them. Oh, wait I forgot to tell you that I am also planning our prom after party and I have no idea what to do with that either...Any ideas? Anyway...**

**I do not own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito. Kazuki and Pomerol are mine, but I don't particularly like Kazuki...You can have him.**

_I halfway expected Kaito to make some kind of remark to her but he simply nodded and laid his head back against the seat. Only a few minutes later the car veered sharply to the left and we were heading towards the side of the road._

"What the hell happened?" Nakamori had been resting his head against the back of the seat as well with his eyes closed, but he immediately shot up when the car jerked.

"I think someone is shooting at us! The front tire on my side just blew!" Vermouth was struggling to keep the car on the road while Hattori, Kaito, and myself were searching the area for any sign of someone being there.

Hattori was trying to throw accusations. "Did ya do thi'? Di' ya set 's up?"

"Hattori, she is trying to keep us from crashing. I wouldn't try to make her mad right now!"

"O' righ' I didn' thin' 'bout tha'."

Somewhere off to the left of the car was a flash just before the back drivers side tire blew. Vermouth was struggling to stay on the road at all, it wouldn't be much longer before we would have to abandon the car and just run.

"Vermouth, I want you to stop under that bridge up there. Nakamori-keibu when we stop, we are going to have to run for it. You will need to help Kid if he starts slowing down. He should be fine though, it looks like he runs off his adrenaline more often than not."

"We will follow you two." Nakamori didn't even question when I took charge, he must have known that leaving the car would have been a bad idea, but then staying in it wouldn't be the best either.

"No, I want you, Kid, and Vermouth to go ahead. Hattori and I have something we have to do before we follow."

We were stopping under the bridge and Nakamori was still yelling in the back seat how he couldn't let a couple of kids run around while someone was shooting at them.

"'e kno' wha' we're doin'! Kudo'll put a tracer on ya so tha' we can follow whe' 'e git done. Ya need ta listen ta us!"

I couldn't have said it better myself. Nakamori looked pissed for being told off by Hattori, but we could worry about that later. We all got out of the car. The bridge made a great cover, but only until the shooters decided to change location.

Kaito came over to me after a quick look around. "The ditches are very wide and deep, we shouldn't have a problem passing through them. I have a pretty good idea of what you are planning, it's risky, so be careful."

"We'll be careful, we will follow you in just a few minutes. For this to work, we have to act quickly or they won't buy it. It will only throw them off for a small amount of time. Here's the tracer so we can follow you. Try to get off the main road as soon as you can. Watch Vermouth, I still don't trust her. She could have used this as a set up to lure us out into the open."

"I believe you, here take these. I'm sure they will help. This one is stronger than the one at my house so remember to close your eyes tight." He nodded before leading Nakamori and Vermouth down into one of the ditches. We gave them one last look and Hattori and I set to work.

"Ya thin' they'll buy this? We 're goin' against professionals 'ere."

"I'm not sure if they will be totally fooled by this or not. We thought there were only two bullets aimed for the tires, but there is a bullet hole in the hood as well. They were trying to blow the car up. We're simply going to make them think that the explosion was delayed."

No one heard when the bullet hit the hood, but I saw a small spark when it impacted. That was what gave me the idea. We were going to siphon the gas from the tank and blow the car up. Like Hattori said, we were up against professionals and they would want to make sure everyone had died. They would come down to the car and when they did, we would be waiting.

"Wha' di' Kid give ya 'fore 'e left?" Hattori asked just as we were walking away from the car to take cover. We just had to stay hidden until the sniper arrives and hope that there was only one.

"These." I held the flash bomb, rope, and the card gun out to Hattori. "They will be enough to take down whoever shows up." He gave a grin and we braced ourselves for the blast. We were close but it shouldn't be very strong and we had cover in the ditch. A few seconds after, the car exploded.

We didn't have to wait long for someone to show. Less than five minutes after the explosion a man riding a motorcycle showed up to inspect the wreckage. Judging from the gun mounted on the side of him bike he was the sniper.

The fire on the car had almost died out and it was obvious that no one was in it. The man thinking that no one else was around decided to take off his helmet to get a closer look at the damage. It was Kazuki.

He grumbled something to himself before turning back and mounting his bike. I aimed the card gun carefully and took out both of his tires. He turned back to where we were crouching near the bridge and pulled a pistol out and fired several times.

"Ahh!"

"Hattori! Are you okay?" I was frantic, he had the flash bomb and it was the only chance we had to escape.

"'m fine, 'e got my arm, t's not bad, just knicked 't." Seconds later I saw something fly through the air towards the shooter. "Kudo, I thin' ya should close yer eyes!"

I remembered Kaito throwing a flash bomb down his stairs when I was at his house. I shuddered at the thought of that one being a toned down one that he used in regular tricks. This one was stronger than that.

There was a small popping sound like several small explosions and I could see flashing behind my closed eyes. It was just as bright as if I had kept them open. I turned my head until the flashing died down. I looked to where Kazuki had been and he was lying on the ground in a crumpled heap. I then heard ripping cloth.

"Here let me help. I didn't expect the other sniper to be Kazuki. I thought he was just a rat in the police."

We discussed possible moves while I made a make shift bandage for Hattori's arm. It wasn't bad, but he still probably needed stitches, but in our situation though it seemed unlikely that he would be getting them. It would leave a scar, but it wasn't dangerous and wouldn't hinder his movements much.

"Le's tie 'im up 'fore 'e decides ta wake up."

"Good idea." It took a few minutes to maneuver Kazuki around enough to be able to tie him up in a way that would ensure that he didn't have a chance of escaping unless he was Kaito Kid.

"So wha'da 'e do now?"

"Let's take him with us. The signal from the tracer is only about a mile ahead of us. I bet they found a gas station or something to stop and wait at."

Caring the body of the larger man between the two of us slowed us down considerably but we eventually saw an old rundown gas station ahead with a very disgruntled look Nakamori standing outside.

As we approached he ran towards us. "What the hell was that explosion? Who the hell is that?"

He was firing questions faster than we could answer.

"We blew up the car to lure out the sniper, and this is the sniper. You make know him better as Kazuki though."

He paused for a moment before diving into a lecture about how we shouldn't be putting ourselves in danger. It was a good thing that Hattori's arm was covered by Kazuki's body, otherwise we would never hear the end of it.

Kaito came outside. "I see you plan worked. I had thought up the same thing, but I don't think I could have pulled it off in this condition."

"You knew what they were going to do?" Here he goes again. We took Kazuki inside leaving Nakamori ranting to himself outside.

"Chateau? He was the one shooting at us." Vermouth didn't really look surprised, but more curious. "I was wondering who they would get to replace Chianti. If I had to guess, since you captured the third best sniper in the organization, they will send Korn after you next. That is if he has gotten over Chianti's death."

"Who was it that shot Chianti? I know she was one of the best snipers so I don't know why she would be shot after missing only one target."

"I just happened to be in the area where that Kid heist was and saw a shady figure taking aim at Kid. I shot her before she had a chance to fire, but she flinched when the bullet hit her skull. She squeezed the trigger after she was already dead. I just switched the story to her missing she shot and getting aggravated. I just had to say that she turned the gun on me so I fired."

"What do we do with him now?" Nakamori had finally finished his colorfully worded rant and joined us in time to hear Vermouths explanation.

"Jodie-san should be free by now. I'm sure if Kudo-kun wanted to call her she would be willing to come pick him up from here."

She was right, I called and gave Jodie our location, and told her we would be gone by the time she arrived, but we would meet up again later. We made sure the binding was not going to be slipped through and then we took an old car that was sitting out front. How Vermouth managed to hotwire a piece of junk like that I will probably never know.


	19. Chapter 19

**I hope that no one's given up. Let me explain what happened here. I am in the process of moving and don't know when I will be done. My computer got lost in the process...I have some people helping me and well, lets just say that I know where my computer was and now it's not there. The next chapters that I had to post were on there and now I need to re-write them...I don't know when I will get them posted again. My have finals in all my classes next week so hopefully I will be able to update after that. I'm really sorry guys. I've never had this much trouble and once I started posting my story, it seem like anything and everything has gone wrong. **

**Here's the other chapter I promised, I hope that you will like it.**

"_Jodie-san should be free by now. I'm sure if Kudo-kun wanted to call her she would be willing to come pick him up from here."_

_She was right, I called and gave Jodie our location, and told her we would be gone by the time she arrived, but we would meet up again later. We made sure the binding was not going to be slipped through and then we took an old car that was sitting out front. How Vermouth managed to hotwire a piece of junk like that I will probably never know._

Vermouth had taken us to an abandoned building on the outskirts of town. It was rundown and looked like it would fall over if someone slammed a door to hard. It was literally in the middle of no-where, surrounded by trees.

"'re ya sure I's safe ta be here?"

"I don't know what you are talking about. It looks like a perfectly fine headquarters to me. At least it is if you don't want to be found. Most people won't go into a building that looks like it could fall on their head."

"So why are we going into it?"

"You don't really think I would go into a building that wasn't at least a little stable, do you Kid-san?"

"At this point I don't think that any of us know what to think of you…"

Kaito obviously still didn't trust Vermouth, of course, none of us did. He just made it more obvious than us.

"If we aren't going into it, why are we here?" Nakamori wasn't what I would call calm, but he did a pretty good job of hiding his anxiety.

"You detectives and thieves ask too many questions. Just follow me."

Vermouth didn't wait to see if we were going to follow or not. The four of us exchanged glances before following her. Kaito was walking quietly, which worried me a little. Kid doesn't walk quietly, he walks silently. Hattori would reach up every minute or so to adjust his makeshift bandage. Nakamori finally caught sight of his injury but didn't say anything.

We walked all the way around the building once before Vermouth made her way to a small clearing a short distance from the house.

"Now, I only brought you out here so that I could show you something." She felt around on the ground for a moment with her foot before leaning down and then looking up to me. "Kudo-kun, could you give me a hand?"

I knelt down next to her and together we shoved what appeared to be a hidden door from its spot on the ground to reveal a small area not much different from the hidden room Kaito had taken us to before. We stepped down in the opening, the only major difference was that there seemed to be an extra hallway that was too long to be able to see the room on the other end.

"What's this?" I started down the hallway, but Vermouth caught my arm. She looked…If I didn't know any better; I would say that she looked scared for a second. "What is down there?" I had a pretty good idea, but I wanted confirmation and if I was right, then Vermouth may have truly been trying to help us.

"I brought you down here so that you would have an entrance to the headquarters. This is private property so no one is ever here, so it makes a great place to hide something. Now that you know the location, we need to go. I will tell you what is down there once we leave this place."

Something about what she said set Nakamori off. "Listen, we have been following you for blindly for hours. Why can't you just tell us what this is and then have it over with?"

"Nakamori-keibu, if that is what I think it is I don't think we should be yelling down here. Although I'm sure that there is a soundproof security door on the other end of that hallway. I'd rather not take any chances." Kaito caught onto what was down the hall as well.

"Kid's right." Saying that was all it took, Vermouth crawled back out of the hidden door, followed by the rest of us.

Back at the car, Hattori finally lost his patience. "Wha' was tha' room? 'pparently Kid an' Kudo got 't figur'd out, but 'm clueless."

"It's my private entrance to our headquarters."

"Private entrance…to WHAT? If that is where all the people who are part of this situation are at, why did you bring us back up here?"

"Not everyone is down there right now. All the high members like Vodka, Gin, and probably Korn as well are on missions. Going down there right now would only succeed in putting them in hiding for a short while."

"Why did you take us down there now? You could have waited until everyone was together and then took us."

"Gin is already suspicious of me. If I'm even late for a meeting he would immediately speak to Pomerol and I don't want Pomerol thinking that I'm betraying them. On top of that, do you really think that the four of you could take the world's best assassins alone? I'll give you a date and time to be in that room as well as a way to get through the door. That is the only time that you come back here."

All was silent for a moment. "Don' the' already kno' yer helpin' us? With th' snip'rs an all earlier."

"I wasn't driving my own car. It was a lower member's car who had been talking about betraying the organization for awhile. I convinced her not to and sent her into hiding. No one will ever see her again, which makes it look like she was the one helping you rather than me."

Vermouth threw the keys to Nakamori. "You need to get these boys out of here and get their wounds taken care of. You have to be back here the day after tomorrow. That gives you very little time to gather your ally's. The meeting will begin at 4 in the afternoon, but you need to wait until 4:10 to enter the door. Pomerol won't show up until then." She turned and walked back to the door without so much as a backwards glance.

We climbed back into the car. "I know everyone is probably getting tired of hearing this question, but what do we do now?" Nakamori looked more confused than ever. His picture of black and white, wrong and right, was being destroyed.

"Fer now I thin' we should do as sh' said. Kid 's lookin' a bit pale."

"Yeah, as much as I hate to admit it, I'm not feeling so hot either. We can't go to a hospital and mom and Jii-chan are in America. I don't know anyone else that I would trust not to ask questions."

"Nakamori-keibu, could you please drive to my house. My neighbor's are pretty good with anything. They've patched Hattori and myself up on occasion and they won't ask too many questions, because they already know most of what is going on."

"Kudo, ya kno' I don' like tha' girl!"

"Do you have a better idea? Besides, I think Haibara is probably getting lonely without someone of lower intelligence to pick on. I'll call and let them know that we will be there in a bit."

"Wha'dya say?"

"I think she finally got bored trying to pick on me, you give her a better reaction."

Hattori went quiet and was steaming. I couldn't help but laugh a little bit while listening to the phone ringing in my ear. Thankfully Agasa answered and said that he would have everything set up when we arrived.

"There's someone as smart as you two? I think I want to meet this person."

Kid was listening to our conversation and for a moment he looked confused, but a look of realization crossed his face soon after.

"Nakamori-keibu, if it is how I think they are talking about, then you are actually in for quite a surprise. I think you have already met her."

"I have?"

"Yes, but I doubt you will remember her. She is the type of person to make a very 'small' impression on people."

Hattori and I laughed at the joke while Nakamori just stared at the road confused.

The rest of the car ride consisted of Nakamori trying to drag information out of the three of us and occasionally a juggling trick or something of the like from Kaito; trying to convince us that he was fine despite what he had said earlier.


	20. Chapter 20

**It's been what, 3 months? Sorry guys, as I said before, my computer was there and then it wasn't...I just got a new computer but I don't have any of my chapters saved, but that's ok. I'll pick up where I left off. I will probably only be updating once a week because I am a full time college student now and I still work full time. I PROMISED THAT I WOULD NOT DROP THE STORY! I never expected for there to be such a large gap in time either...Long story short, my computer disapeared, I was out of town most of the summer with no internet connection (yay, the perks of being a volunteer girl scout leader...) and on top of that I hit almost 60 hours at work when I was at home! Anyway, enough of my rambles, here is the story.**

**Scroll to the top of the page and look in the left hand corner. What does it say? . Do I own DC or MK, I think not or it would not be on would it? No? I didn't think so. Enjoy the FanFict.**

_Kid was listening to our conversation and for a moment he looked confused, but a look of realization crossed his face soon after._

_"Nakamori-keibu, if it is how I think they are talking about, then you are actually in for quite a surprise. I think you have already met her."_

_"I have?"_

_"Yes, but I doubt you will remember her. She is the type of person to make a very 'small' impression on people."_

_Hattori and I laughed at the joke while Nakamori just stared at the road confused._

_The rest of the car ride consisted of Nakamori trying to drag information out of the three of us and occasionally a juggling trick or something of the like from Kaito; trying to convince us that he was fine despite what he had said earlier._

Kaito again fell asleep before we made it back to Agasa's, but woke right as we pulled up to the house.

"I'm starving!" Kaito's sudden outburst startled us all, but managed to lighten the mood and get a few laughs on our way up to the door.

"Kudo-kun, what happened? Ai-Kun has been acting strange for a few days now, but won't say anything to me."

"Sorry I haven't checked in since she gave me the antidote. I told her that we had a lead so she has probably been more attuned to her feelings about their presence."

Agasa led us downstairs to the lab where, as promised, he had all his medical equipment set up. The place looked like a hospital. I shuddered slightly. There wasn't much explaining to do, seeing as Agasa knew everything about our situation. I just had to fill him in on who Kaito was.

"Ai-Kun, will you lend me a hand? I need to take care of Kaito-Kun, and it appears Hattori-kun is going to need some stiches."

Hattori started, "No wa'! She ain' getting' anywhere near me! She'll try ta kill me, or even wors', she'll feed me som' o' tha' APTX or whatever 't is!"

Nakamori was confused by the outburst, but found it humorous no the less. Kaito had since taken a seat against the wall, but was laughing just as much.

Haibara entered the room, her hand closed around something, with a taunting smirk on her face. Nakamori once again confused seeing as how Haibara was left out of our explanations for the most part.

"Now Hattori-kun, what makes you think I would do something like that? I just want to help." It was scary how innocent it actually sounded

"I'm not trying to question you Agasa-san, but you aren't really going to have a child give Hattori stitches are you?"

Agasa looked up from Kaito's wounds for a moment and glanced at me questioningly. I decided that I might as well explain to him.

"Nakamori-keibu, Haibara is in the same situation I was in. She is actually older than Hattori, Kaito, and me. She is the one who created the antidote. You may recognize her from a couple of Kid heists where Conan was involved."

Everything fell into place then and Nakamori took his place near Kaito while I found a few Ibuprofen for myself. Hattori still fighting against Haibara.

"Kudo! Wha' color did ya say tha' APTX stuff was? It was red and whit' wasn' it! I knew 't sh's tryin' ta shrink me!"

I tried to explain to Hattori that there was no way that Haibara would shrink him unless she was severely pissed at someone, and that she enjoyed outsmarting him as a teenager too much to change him, but I just couldn't manage to get it out between laughing and breathing.

After Kid's wounds were dressed, Agasa had to take over for Haibara before she actually decided to shrink Hattori.

Wounds freshly dressed, Haibara walked over to her desk and pulled out a few pills and handed them to Kaito.

He gave her a questioning glance, "What are these for?"

"I'm sure you have an extremely high healing rate, so these should work extremely well for you. They are a special antibiotic that I came up with. Take one and a wound that would normally take ten days to heal will only take two to four."

Kaito just stared at the little pills in his hand in amazement. Before he could look up to thank her for them, she disappeared into another part of the basement were her computer and lab equipment was at.

Nakamori stared towards the direction Haibara left in. "That girl is amazing, I know you said she was older than all of you, but how much older?"

"Ai-kun is only 19. She has extreme intelligence. She is teaching me many things that most scientists could only dream of. Once she re-ages medical sciences should be pretty much caught up to her and she can start publishing her findings. Right now it would only work against her."

Everyone remained silent after Agasa's explanation and after a few minutes walked upstairs.

"So what should we do until we have to crash the organizations meeting? Personally I think I want take a nap and see how well this antibiotic really works." Kaito was looking better already. He had taken the pill right after Haibara had explained its effects and it looked like it was actually working already.

"That sounds good. We can use the rest of today to recuperate and make a few calls. Tomorrow we can begin our final planning. I can get in touch with a few taskforce members, Kudo-kun can contact the FBI, CIA, and whoever else he can, same goes for everyone else. Any help at all will be to our benefit."

With that being said everyone went to do their own thing. I read a book, Agasa worked on his inventions, Haibara never emerged from the lab. Kaito, true to his word, took a nap, and Hattori bounced between admiring the professors work and reading until he finally fell asleep with the book in his hands.


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey guys! It's here and it's even a little earlier than I expected. So I know that I didn't update for forever, but I know there has to be someone out there reading this, right? I hope so. Leave some reviews so that I know if you like it or not. I welcome any kind of comment soooo general comments, constructive criticism, um I'll even take suggestions if they work into the story.**

**I don't own this obviously. It still says on the top left hand corner of this site, but let me know if that changes.**

It took a while for us to get in touch with everyone essential to taking out the organization. Jodie, the CIA, and FBI should be there within the hour. Inspectors Megure and Hattori were on standby with strict instructions not to inform anyone of anything yet, in case there were still members in the force, but to be ready when he was needed.

I also called my parents and asked them not to come rushing back yet, and that we had a lead but nothing was definite yet. I wanted to play it safe and try to keep them out of the way. Kaito called his mother and Jii and told them the same.

"So this 's really it? 'R we really gonna do this?" He wasn't really asking a question so much as thinking out loud.

"Well duh. We can't get this kind of lead and not follow it through can we? Sometimes I wonder about you detectives, picking and choosing what leads to follow rather than chasing them all down without a bit of hesitation."

"Oi oi, Kaito if that was the way we worked, would we know who you are right now? Would we be helping you or throwing you in a cell right about now?"

I knew he was just trying to bait Hattori, but what can you expect? We detectives can be very prideful beings.

"Is that a challenge Tantei-san? If so, I will be taking you up on it as soon as we rid this world of the organization."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

Just then the door bell and once again Kaito was on edge. He didn't like the idea of working with the FBI or CIA any more than he liked the word fish, but he wasn't going to let them know it. Agasa opened the door to reveal Jodie, James, and two others that I recognize minimally as a couple of acquaintances of my dad.

"Ah, Cool Guy! So glad to see that everyone is alive and well, right?"

I gave a passing glance at Kaito and determined him to be much better after taking Haibara's miracle antibiotic, before turning back to Jodie and giving her a reassuring nod.

"Good, seeing as how we don't want to be too suspicious, James and myself will be the only one's here from the FBI, and the CIA has only two people coming as well. We will take the plan back to our groups and go over every detail with a fine toothed comb."

Kaito relaxed a little knowing that he was only going to be stuck in a room with four people who wanted him behind bars. I lead them into the sitting area of Agasa's house, were I sat on one end of a couch, Hattori on the other, and Kaito quickly jumping between us so he wouldn't end up sitting next to any of the agents. Nakamori, who had just emerged from the kitchen were Agasa had come from only moment before took up recliner in the corner, while all the agents filled the remaining couch opposite of us.

"Kudo-kun, as much as I would like to stay, I'll be in the basement with Haibara-kun. Let me know if you guys need anything. Oh, and Ayumi may be coming by. She left some of her stuff in my car when we went camping. It is on the bar, if you would give it to her when she gets here I would appreciate it."

With that Agasa left without another word. True to his word, he probably would have liked to stay except he knew that he wouldn't like what he was going to hear.

"So, does anyone have a plan?" James was the first to speak.

No one answered as we all glanced around at each other waiting for someone else to speak.

"Cool Guy, we can't do much to start the plan because we have not seen our entrance. You four have."

"The reason none of the boys spoke out immediately I'm sure is because they haven't come up with a plan for the situation yet. Am I right?" Nakamori looked towards us. We all ducked our heads like we'd been beaten already.

"No offense, but from everything I have heard of Kudo Shinichi, Hattori Heiji, and Kaito Kid, I'm assuming that is who you are, I am surprised that none of you have anything to say at all…" This time it was one of the CIA agents. I believe when she showed their name badges earlier hers said she was Jordan and her partner was Andrew.

"We were given information on a single way in by a member of the organization. We do not know the locations of any of their other exits. The entrance shown to us is an underground hallway with no cover or exits of any kind. Once we enter that hallway, we are pretty much trapped until whatever happens, well happens."

I'd taken a lot of time to think about this fact since we arrived at Agasa's and it appeared that everyone else had as well, but no one had any ideas.

"On top of wha' Kudo said, ther's no way tha' all of us could get down tha' hallway at once. It is small so 't can easily be concealed. We need th' other entrances ta be able ta do thi' at least a little sensibly…"

It was silent for a few moments until there was another knock at the door. I got up to retrieve the items Agasa told me about before going to the door.

"Ah, who are you? Where is the professor? You look a lot like Conan-kun." A look of sadness and maybe something else flashed in her eyes. Agasa must have told them that Conan was 'leaving'.

"I'm Kudo Shinichi. Agasa is busy right now but he told me to give these to you." I handed her a small bag containing some clothes, a brush, and a few other small items.

"Oh, Shinichi-niisan really did answer the door. The blond lady told me that you might, but I told her you wouldn't because you were away on a big case and couldn't come home for a while."

Blond lady? Could it have been…Maybe…

"Ayumi-chan, can you tell me where the blond lady is now?"

"No, but she said if Shinichi-niisan opened the door to give him this note." She handed me a piece of paper neatly folded in half with the words 'Silver Bullet-Kun' on the front. My heart stopped for a minute. Did she decide to go ahead and take the girls, is she really setting us up?

I was brought back down to earth when Ayumi spoke. "She also told me to tell you not to worry because it isn't a trap. She was an odd lady. Well, I have to get home now. Bye Shinichi-niisan."

I went back into the living area unfolding the not as I went. I stared at it in shock.


	22. Chapter 22

**Just a short chapter. I'm going to try to finish this up. I know once again it has been a while and it could be just as long before I get the next one up. If everything goes as planned though, I should have the next chapter up fairly quick. Tomorrow is my half freeday. No class but I have to go to work later in the day. Then next day is a totally different story. I have one class and the rest of the day is free. Absolutely nothing but freet time! I still don't own this and probably never will. It doesn't look hopeful for the avion DNA working well in pigs soooo. R&R!**

_I was brought back down to earth when Ayumi spoke. "She also told me to tell you not to worry because it isn't a trap. She was an odd lady. Well, I have to get home now. Bye Shinichi-niisan." _

_I went back into the living area unfolding the not as I went. I stared at it in shock._

"Wha's tha'?"

Of course Hattori was already trying to get it out of me, but I just couldn't quite get out what I needed to say. It was really starting to scare me how easily it was for Vermouth to get to me. At least she appeared to be on our side for the moment.

"Well 'f yer not gonna tell me, the' jus' let me see it!" I felt the paper being tugged from my hands by Hattori and then I heard him gasp.

"Tantei-han, what exactly is on that paper?" Kaito's mask had gone back up. He was more nervous than he showed.

"Sh' gave us th' other entrances…"

"Really now, let the rest of us see."

Silver Bullet-kun,

Sorry I wasn't able to bring this to you in person, but you know how much your law enforcement officers in there would trust me. Pomerol and I are the only ones who have private entrances. Gin and Vodka share one, and there will be 3 other members there who share a third entrance. Once these members are taken out, the organization will fall apart. It will be a gradual process, but you will be able to find the rest of the members after this meeting. Here is a map of the entrances. Remember; do not show up until after 4:10. If you do then this will not work.

S.V.

We all sat in silence trying to process what we had just read. She had pretty much just handed us the organization on a silver platter, and we were all back to wondering if she was just setting us up. It wouldn't make sense for her to though. If there were only going to be seven people in the room like she said then they wouldn't stand a chance against the entire Japanese police force, CIA, FBI, and whoever else showed up…

After a while Jordan was the first to speak.

"So, I'm sure all of you have realized that it would make no sense for her to lie to us at this point. So what's the plan?"

And so started the planning of the night that would change the rest of our lives, hopefully for the better.


	23. Chapter 23

**_What, I had time to write a second chapter, and it's a long one? No this is still not to the takedown because I'm still not exactly sure how to write that part yet, but it should be in the next chapter. Until this, this one should keep you busy. Since the last one was so short this one is extra long. I still sadly have yet to see pigs fly but when it happens, I might own DC or maybe even MK!_**

_And so started the planning of the night that would change the rest of our lives, hopefully for the better._

The plan was relatively simple. Surround all the entrances, send a decoy in to take them by surprise, and then attack before they had a chance to realize what was going on. We decided this was the best means and after arguing about teenagers being involved in the takedown, everything was set. Once Nakamori set his mind on convincing someone of something he didn't stop until he got his way.

Also upon further inspection of the note Vermouth had left we discovered that written in invisible ink, "Watch for crows in the forest." She just couldn't help herself. She liked to remain somewhat mysterious.

"So this is really about to happen." It wasn't a question and it wasn't really meant for anyone else, but I said it out load. Even so no one really answered, just a couple of heads nodding.

It had taken the FBI and CIA almost a full day to brief their colleagues. They wanted to make sure every little thing was predictable even though they knew that this was one case that was almost sure to have surprises to knock us of balance. For starters, we weren't even sure if there was really a meeting in this underground room that could possibly just be an old abandoned bomb shelter or something.

We were now sitting in a large conference room rented to us by a hotel under the pretense that it was just a simple business meeting.

"Kudo, the 're askin' ya somethin'."

"Wha-Oh, I'm sorry. What did you ask?" I had totally zoned from the meeting. We were in a room with the main team for the takedown. There were about twenty men from the FBI and CIA plus Nakamori, Jodie, and us teenagers.

"Kudo-kun, I was just asking if this any people are necessary to take down a mere seven people?" It was a member of one of the organizations who appeared as if he didn't fully understand the whole situation.

"If you start underestimating them now then we've already lost. Remember that." I really didn't feel like going into a full explanation, but it seemed as if this would get nowhere if I didn't.

"But again Kudo-kun, there are only seven." I'm glad this guy was not in charge because if he was then we would probably not make it through the raid.

"All the information we have is that there will be seven people in the meeting room. We have no idea how many will be outside keeping watch. If there are watch men then we will need to get to them and have them lure the other members in the area. I highly doubt that they will have a radio into the meeting room so there should be no worries about the higher members fleeing."

We had already talked about the possibility of watchmen when we were planning. If there were any present then we needed to apprehend them and use them to take down as many members as possible. We would try to convince them to call backup but if they would not then we always had the bow tie.

"I understand that you are concerned about this mission, but if they have guards outside why would they not have a radio on the inside? I just think that twenty well trained people such as ourselves shouldn't all have to go after seven, maybe even ten people."

Whoever this guy was, he was really starting to get on my nerves. I'd had enough.

"I think what Kudo-kun is trying to tell you is that we do not really know how many people are there. If we take only ten people and they end up having guards outside as well as the seven trained assassins inside our chances of this being successful go down substantially."

It took me a moment to realize who had been talking. Nakamori-keibu had come forward from his corner where he had been talking to Jodie.

"But we are taking the words of a group of teenagers who quite possibly have never seen true danger."

I hadn't even noticed Kaito move from my side. Probably a good sign that his wounds were doing much better and he could move freely again, but at the same time it scared the hell out of me. I like being able to predict where he would be and when he moved.

"No offense intended towards you ah…I'm sorry what is your name?"

"I'm Justin Ford, CIA." The man looked startled. Kaito's sudden appearance in the middle of the room probably spooked him a bit.

"Ok, Justin. As I said before, no offense to you but how many dangerous situations have you been in?"

Justin stood to address Kaito at his full height, probably trying to intimidate him into backing off. Too bad he didn't know Kaito that well.

"I have been in three combat situations in the past two years that I have worked for the CIA."

"Three combat situations, that's impressive. How many times were you injured or had someone in your unit injured?"

"I don't see how my missions pertain to this."

"Just humor me for a few minutes." I had never seen Kaito this way. I would almost go so far as to say that he was mad.

"I have never been injured in a combat situation, nor has anyone in my unit. Our missions are solely recovery missions."

"You are a secondary team. Meaning you go in after a first team has made a sweep of the area and did a preliminary scan for possible threats correct? You're right. Those are dangerous situations, but did you ever think of the team that goes in before you?"

I had a pretty good idea where Kaito was taking the conversation and I couldn't help but chuckle a little when Justin started second guessing his previous words.

"N-no, we are never even allowed to meet them."

"Well, you can think of us three as your preliminary scout team. The three of us have been working to catch this organization for as long as you have been in the CIA…" Kaito paused for a moment and began fidgeting with the buttons on the front of his shirt. I didn't really expect what came next.

Kaito finished fidgeting with the buttons and shrugged his shirt off his shoulders and placed it on the table closest to him. He didn't have as many bandages on him as he had a few days ago and you could see the evidence of his previous confrontations peaking from edges of his not so white anymore bandages. I could hear people breaths catch in their throats.

"This is what happens when there is not enough planning involved, or plans go wrong. People get hurt. I understand that you do not want to put your trust in a few teenagers, but the three of us have seen more than most of you will in a lifetime. Those two over there have similar scars most from the people we are going after tonight. If you have any doubts about coming then please stay behind. We do not need any distractions tonight."

With his point made, Kaito was back in his shirt in seconds and had reclaimed his seat next to me. Nobody spoke for what seemed like an eternity. All eyes were on Kaito, but he didn't seem to notice. Although Hattori and I were close enough to see that he was shaking slightly. I was sure that he had a few nightmares about all the recent incidents, but I hadn't realized how much they had affected him until now.

Someone cleared their throat off to the side of us, when Nakamori began to speak the room was dead silent.

"We take these teenagers very seriously. In addition to our group here we also have the Japanese police force and secondary teams from both of your organizations ready for back up. I understand that all of you are trained, but so are these men. They will not hesitate to kill you. If you have any more questions then perhaps you should just stay behind. Questioning someone with experience with these types of people such as these teenagers may only serve to endanger you and your squad. With that being said, I want everyone to take about an hour to prepare and if you leave we will hold no hard feelings, this will be dangerous. Those still willing to come with us need to meet back here in one hour."

Nobody moved except Kaito who stood and walked out the door without as much as a glance back. Hattori, Nakamori and I followed shortly after.

We found him after only a few seconds of looking around. He was leaned with is back against the wall on the building across from the one we had just left and he was still shaking. Not enough for most people to notice as odd, but when Kaito stood still you could have mistaken him for part of the scenery. This was different.

"Ya know ya didn' have ta to tha'."

We were all standing in an odd semicircle around Kaito.

"I know."

"Then why did you?" Nakamori was taken aback for a second at the low short answer Kaito had given.

"I wanted to make sure that no one in there is going into this blind. I wanted them to realize that there are serious risks involved. I-I wish we could do this on our own but the fact is that hasn't gone so well for us so far and I wanted to make sure that they would take us seriously so that they wouldn't get hurt."

"Kaito, you are an idiot." I couldn't help it. I laughed. One of us calling Kaito an idiot was just that, but when the words fell out of Nakamori's mouth I just lost it, and so did Hattori.

"I'm a what?"

"You're an idiot. We all want to protect everyone, but you desire, no need to protect people almost borders a hero complex. You don't think that we would let someone go with us that wasn't fully aware of what they were up against do you? If he had kept questioning our methods then he would have been made to stay back. He is still kind of a rookie and Mr. Black just wanted to see how he handled the meeting. Although I have to say that I don't think he will ever question anyone's motives for something without a reason again."

Kaito looked at Nakamori and for a moment I thought he was going to start yelling, but instead he laughed.

We spent the next few minutes joking around and Hattori's hair turned a wonderful shade of blue before I glanced at Kaito and saw him wince a small bit before shooting confetti at an already boiling Nakamori.

"Hey Kaito, on a more serious note, are you going to be able to do this later today?"

"There is no way that I'm going to miss this. We aren't the first team going in so I'll be fine. If we were going in first and had to make all the first moves and mistakes then I would probably opt for a secondary entry position."

We had planned that on purpose. We knew with the injuries obtained by the three of us that there would be no way that we could be the first wave of the attack inside the room, so we decided that we would go with the second wave that would be surrounding the doors and catch anyone trying to escape.

"If ya think even for a second tha' ya need ta rest or take off so ya don' get hurt again, then ya need ta let us know and we will git ya outta there."

"I know, but I think I will be fine. I have the healing rate of this stuff almost down. In a few hours I should only feel minimal aches and there shouldn't be much of a chance of anything reopening."

"That Haibara Ai girl is something else. You boys have some very odd contacts."

We all fell into a fit of laughter again.

"Well, come on boys. It's almost show time. We need to go back in and start getting everyone's weapons and vests issued."


	24. Chapter 24

**I still haven't dropped this story! I do not mean to tease anyone still reading this, but I have the next couple of chapters ready. I do not own this obviously. I don't think it takes a detective to figure that out. Anyway, I am updating three chapters and then I will be working on finishing the story!**

"_That Haibara Ai girl is something else. You boys have some very odd contacts."_

_We all fell into a fit of laughter again. _

"_Well, come on boys. It's almost show time. We need to go back in and start getting everyone's weapons and vests issued."_

It had taken almost another full hour to get vests and weapons issued to everyone including the three of us with a few protesting looks from the higher ups. Thanks to Kaito's little stunt a while ago no one voiced what they were obviously thinking.

"Let's move out."

Nakamori hadn't needed to say anything else. Everyone was completely silent as they filed into their respective vehicles. They didn't fully understand what they were up against, but they were as prepared as we could make them and they all knew to take as many precautions as possible. There wasn't anything else to do but wait for the outcome.

"How far are 'e from our post?" We hadn't been in the car all that long and it wasn't really a long ride, but Hattori was as impatient as always. It actually helped the atmosphere to have some sense of normalcy.

"We should be there in just a few minutes." Justin Ford held the map up slightly for us to see. He had somehow ended up on our team because of a last minute switch. He appeared to be nervous just being near Kaito, but they seemed to be getting along.

"Hey Justin, did you know that by combing different ingredients in dyes in different amounts you can make them…." Kaito was making conversation with Justin. The scary part was that Justin was actually taking notes. Magician in training?

"Here's our post. Let's get into position so that we can be ready for the hell that is sure to break loose." Nakamori spoke up from the driver's seat for the first time since entering the car.

"Are all teams a go?" The radio crackled to life with Mr. Black's voice. This was it, in a few minutes it would be over. One way or the other.

"All teams are a go. Let's do this!"


	25. Chapter 25

**As promised here it the 25 chapter. I don't own it!**

"_Here's our post. Let's get into position so that we can be ready for the hell that is sure to break loose." Nakamori spoke up from the driver's seat for the first time since entering the car. _

"_Are all teams a go?" The radio crackled to life with Mr. Black's voice. This was it, in a few minutes it would be over. One way or the other._

"_All teams are a go. Let's do this!"_

"Team one, take your sweep and report!"

Mr. Black was in charge of team one. Their mission was to clear the area capture any scouts, turn them over to team two, and breach all the entrances simultaneously.

"Mr. Black, two scouts spotted to the west. They were captured and neutralized. We're doing a second sweep before returning." Team one split into four smaller teams to cover the whole area.

"Same here sir. Two scouts. We're conducting a second sweep as well before returning."

All for teams reported back with similar information. They had placed two scouts in each direction but they were obviously lower levels. They were being taken way too easily. Team one met back with us to hand over the scouts, some of which I recognized but not as high members at all.

"Kuroba, Hattori, Justin, Nakamori-keibu are you sure you want to go through with this? This is the last chance to back out." The first team had just left and I wanted to make sure that we were not going to have any hindrances before we moved in.

"Aho! We came this far, wha' makes ya thin' tha' we 'r jus gonna turn back now?" Coming from Hattori, it was an obvious answer. I looked to the others and their expression held the same words that Hattori spoke. Just slightly less accented.

"I never really expected you would Hattori. I would have felt bad if I hadn't given you an out though."

We were trying to joke around the little bit we could to ease the tension while setting out positions. In less than five minutes we would be engaged in the fight of our lives…

"Ready yourself Nakamori-keibu. Team one has breached the entrances and are moving in."

All jokes stopped their and everything was silent.

"Ready when you are Mr. Black. Good luck to everyone."

"Thanks. We're going to need it. Team one, move in now! Team two, hold your position, but be ready."

I was anxious about not being on the first team. We didn't know what was going to happen but I couldn't shake the feeling that we were probably more prepared for whatever was going to happen.

It was silent for what seemed like forever.

"Shouldn't we b' able ta hear somethin' by now?"

"Not necessarily. The doors may have closed behind the team and are blocking any sounds, or if by some stroke of luck they surrendered then there wouldn't be much noise either.

I was worried about the same thing, but we couldn't think about that. We just needed to wait for Mr. Black's signal.

"From what I have seen of these guys and what they have done to you boys, there isn't a snowballs chance in hell that they will surrender without a fight…"

That was when all hell broke loose.

"Nakamori-keibu! They found us out! They must have some sort of alarm system. Signal backup and get in here!"

Nakamori immediately had his phone in his hands and sent a message to the backup FBI, CIA, and police forces.

"Well boys. I guess that s our signal. Let's go!"


	26. Chapter 26

**Here is chapter 26 as promised. I'm not sure how long it will take me to finish the story, but I have some free time coming up so I will be working on this.**

_That was when all hell broke loose._

"_Nakamori-keibu! They found us out! They must have some sort of alarm system. Signal backup and get in here!"_

_Nakamori immediately had his phone in his hands and sent a message to the backup FBI, CIA, and police forces. _

"_Well boys. I guess that s our signal. Let's go!"_

It took us less than a minute to reach the inside of the building, and once we had we wanted nothing more than to just turn around and pretend that nothing ever happened and that we never saw anything. It's isn't that easy though is it.

We were right about the entrance tunnels being a hazard for our plan, but we expected that and that was why we had the second team and the backup.

Kaito was the first one in. His nobody gets hurt policy had worked so well up until today and it was really hard on him even if he wouldn't show it.

"How are they Kaito-kun?" Nakamori looked as if he was going to be sick. Even though he had been a law enforcement officer for many years, he had worked in the Kid task force. This was a whole new ball game.

There were three bodies from the first team. All three were no doubt dead. Each had one single shot to the forehead.

"No good. They're dead." The lack of emotion in Kaito's voice surprised me. Sure he could pretty much change his voice however he wanted, but he always had some sort of emotion to it, but before I could even open my mouth he started walking down the hall.

"Let's go. The rest of the team is in there and I don't want them to end up like this." We followed quickly but silently.

The instant we walked through the doors we were immediately showered with gunfire. "What the hell took you so long Nakamori?"

"I was having a picnic! What the hell did you think?"

"If you don't mind Mr. Black, Nakamori-keibu, can we pay attention to the people with guns?" We had cover behind a table that had been overturned at some point during the fight.

"How did they know where we were?" The cold voice, not affected at all by the devastation happening around him made my blood run cold…Gin…


	27. Chapter 27

**_I don't own it, if I did then there would difinately be more KID!_**

_The instant we walked through the doors we were immediately showered with gunfire. "What the hell took you so long Nakamori?"_

"_I was having a picnic! What the hell did you think?"_

"_If you don't mind Mr. Black, Nakamori-keibu, can we pay attention to the people with guns?" We had cover behind a table that had been overturned at some point during the fight. _

"_How did they know where we were?" The cold voice, not affected at all by the devastation happening around him made my blood run cold…Gin…_

"I'm not sure, but they won't make it back out." Vodka…

"Nakamori-keibu, the two behind us now are two of the most dangerous. They are the two that put me in my…ahem…position before. We need to take care of them quickly." I was whispering just loud enough for us to hear.

"On my count, we take them on three. One…Two…THREE!"

What happened next would have had most people running for cover; but we were not most people, and we were determined…

All five of us Nakamori, Justin, Kaito, Hattori, and myself jumped over the table and surrounded the room guns drawn while Mr. Black went to aid the rest of his team on the other side of the underground area. There were people lying on the ground all around the room, mostly men from the first team, but looking around I saw three members down as well. Other than the two we were fighting now we were still missing Vermouth and the Boss.

"Ahhaah!" I turned back to the scene unfolding before me. Justin had taken a hit to the shoulder. I moved to cover him and started firing at the duo. At first it looked as if no one was even able to graze them, but after a moment I realized that they were not even dodging the bullets. They were just taking them and they were both grinning manically. They were not even trying to escape, they were just covering. We had to take care of them as soon as possible.

"Hattori, Kaito, Nakamori! They are covering!" They glanced to where team one should have been fighting still, but they were all laying on the ground including Mr. Black. Vermouth and the Boss were nowhere to be found. It was just enough of a distraction for Gin and Vodka to get a few shots off.

"Kaito-kun! We need a distraction!" Nakamori's arm was grazed but he didn't even slow down for a second, the man was really amazing. I continued to fire at the members until Kaito could get whatever he was planning set up. He must have been having some trouble with his wounds. It didn't usually take him more than a few seconds.

"NOW!" We hit the floor hands over our heads for protection. None of us were really sure what Kaito had planned but we thought it would be best to take cover just in case. Before hitting the floor I was something in their eyes. A hint of confusion? Perfect.


	28. Chapter 28

**I think that disclaimers should be put on the first page of a story and then never heard from again, but just to be on the safe side here it is again...I sadly still do not own DC or MK...**

"_Kaito-kun! We need a distraction!" Nakamori's arm was grazed but he didn't even slow down for a second, the man was really amazing. I continued to fire at the members until Kaito could get whatever he was planning set up. He must have been having some trouble with his wounds. It didn't usually take him more than a few seconds._

"_NOW!" We hit the floor hands over our heads for protection. None of us were really sure what Kaito had planned but we thought it would be best to take cover just in case. Before hitting the floor I was something in their eyes. A hint of confusion? Perfect._

Seconds later the wall closest to where Kaito had been only moments before exploded. Shrapnel was flying everywhere. It appeared as if Kaito had decided to make an exception to his nobody gets hurt rule on this one mission. I winced as I felt small pieces of hot concrete and metal scrape across my back, but nothing to damaging. Since I was closest to the blast other than Gin and Vodka everyone else should be fine.

"Damage report! Are you boys alright?" I looked up to see Nakamori making his way to check on Kaito and Hattori who were up dusting themselves off and I got up to do the same while checking where Gin and Vodka went.

"Boy, you look familiar to me. Should I know you?" I inhaled sharply as I felt the pressure around my neck from Gin's arm. He was stronger and taller than I was and he easily lifted me off the ground.

"Answer me. The only faces I don't remember are from people that I have killed and I don't fail. I can't seem to remember who you are but you do seem vaguely familiar. What is your name?" His voice was still the same steely tone that I had heard that night a few years ago.

"K-kudo Shinichi, d-detective." The words hadn't come out well seeing as he was still holding me up by my throat but what can you do when someone twice you size and a million times more deadly asks you your name?

"Aniki, he is that kid who saw us doing business in that amusement park a while back. We gave him Sherry's prototype drug. I guess it didn't work on him."

"Kudo Shinichi huh? Well this could be interesting. You're coming with me. Vodka, knock the old man out and bring the other two boys with you. We're leaving." It was only said loud enough for Vodka and me to hear and I could warn them. My vision was starting to swim from lack of oxygen.

"Ojii-san, I'm sorry. It's been fun, but my brother doesn't seem to have taken an interest in you." Nakamori went to fight back but Gin pulled something from his jacket and held it to my head. I can only assume it was a gun. I tried to call out and tell him to fight back, but all that came out was a gargled noise.

Gin's grip loosened slightly. He was doing it on purpose. He was keeping me conscious so I was at least a little aware of what was happening.

Vodka landed a hit on the back of Nakamori's head before turning back to Gin. "Aniki, I should just kill him. He may be able to find us again."

"No, the organization is gone for now. It will take a few years to find people who will be of high enough skill to replace the ones lost here today. He may give us some entertainment until we begin rebuilding."

"Ya bastard!" Hattori leaped at Gin attempting to knock him over only to be thrown to the ground.

"You better be careful kid." Gin turned to him and without so much of a moments hesitation he turned the gun from my head and landed a bullet in Hattori's left shoulder. I heard him cry out, but I heard something coming from the other side of the room where Vodka and Kaito were still standing.

"Hm, Kid you are even more stupid than I thought. Your moves remind me of someone I know and unlike this guy, I know who you are, Kaito Kid. I figured you would have given up when your little friend here failed to knock me over." Being called Kid hadn't even shaken Kaito for a moment

Kaito had hit Vodka on the back to the head, and hard. Gin was still holding me around my neck but not so hard that I couldn't focus. Vodka was definitely unconscious and looked as if he would be that way for a while. Kaito hadn't brought a gun other than his card gun, but now he was standing right in front of us with a gun pointed right at Gin's head.

"Come on Kid, show me what you've got. I've been to a couple of your heists. I have never seen or heard of you using a gun other than your little toy."

"Today's your lucky day then. While I do have a no one gets hurt policy, I cannot just stand here and watch a friend who is in need and do nothing…" He had fallen back on his poker face. There was once again almost no emotion in his voice. Just that damn fake smile I'd grown to hate on his heists, but there was something different about this one. As I said, there was _almost_ no emotion. For those who knew him, his voice was dripping with anger and hate…He wanted to kill Gin…

**What is going to happen next? Let me know what you think. Review! The storyline is not set yet and I may use some ideas from my readers if they're still out there!**


	29. Chapter 29

**Just a short one this time, but everything should be wrapped up pretty soon. Don't forget to review and such. I don't own any of this otherwise Kid would have way more screen time! **

"_Today's your lucky day then. While I do have a no one gets hurt policy, I cannot just stand here and watch a friend who is in need and do nothing…" He had fallen back on his poker face. There was once again almost no emotion in his voice. Just that damn fake smile I'd grown to hate on his heists, but there was something different about this one. As I said, there was almost no emotion. For those who knew him, his voice was dripping with anger and hate…He wanted to kill Gin…_

"Kaito! D-don't you dare!" I tried to make my voice sound demanding, but again Gin tightened his grip and it came out kind of weak.

"Shut up Kudo. I'm a very calculating guy if I do say so myself and the way I see it, nothing short of a miracle is going to help us if I don't."

"Hmm, this could be interesting. Why don't you shoot me kid?"

"To be perfectly honest, I was simply hoping that you would remove that gun from my friends head."

"How about here then? Is this a better spot?" Gin shifted his gun from my head and I almost felt relieved until he shoved it into my back. He let go of my throat and pushed me forward with the barrel.

"Aniki, what do you want me to do with them?" Vodka had regained consciousness and taken Hattori and Nakamori hostage again. I was still trying to catch my breath and get my head to stop spinning but it wasn't working well.

"Whatever you want, I'm busy at the moment." He was again smiling maniacally…My mind was screaming for Kaito to fire and end this, but I knew he would never ge over killing someone. He was right though, I didn't see another way out.

"Kudo, promise me you will take care of her for me." I didn't even have a chance to react before I heard two, maybe three shots and the world around me went black…


	30. Chapter 30

**The next few chapters are going to be really short but they will all be posted around the same time. I don't own this, read and review.**

"_Kudo, promise me you will take care of her for me." I didn't even have a chance to react before I heard two, maybe three shots and the world around me went black…_

I knew it could only have been a few seconds since I hit the ground because I could still hear the commotion and smell the smoke in the air. I couldn't tell what was going on but I could make out Nakamori's signature curses and Kaito's voice. My chest felt like it was on fire, and I could feel something wet. Did one of the shots I heard hit me?

"Kaito, check on him!" I glanced to where Kaito had been when I fell, he was still there only now he was holding the gun limply to his side and staring at me with the most terrified expression I'd ever seen him with.

"Dammit Kaito, NOW!" Nakamori's voice must have snapped him out of wherever he was. He blinked a couple of times before taking his poker face back and rushing to my side.

"Nakamori-keibu, it went through his vest! They must have had enhanced bullets!"

"I know, same with Hattori-kun's. Take off the vest and see how bad it is."

"H-hattori, how is…" I thought back to the voices I'd heard since I opened my eyes again and one was missing. I needed to know if he was alright.

"Shut-up…You're hurt really bad. Worry about yourself." He looked down at me and I tried to ask again.

"Just t-tell me if h-he's okay."

"He's fine compared to you, so please…" He stopped and looked at me again to make sure I understood. I simply nodded my head.

"I'm going to stop the bleeding, after that I'll try to put some temporary stiches in. We need to get you to a hospital though. They'll dissolve really fast with this much blood. They are meant for smaller wounds, but should hold until we can get out of here."

I wasn't really listening to Kaito because I saw movement to my said and it would have taken too much energy to pay attention to both. Nakamori was helping Hattori towards us, checking on several bodies on their way. Each time looking up and shaking his head to indicate that they were not alive.

"Kaito, your hands are shaking. Let me help." Nakamori left Hattori's side to come help Kaito. I watched Hattori slowly move towards the wall to lean on it. He looked pale, exhausted, and in pain but he was able to move by himself and it looked like his previous wound had already been bandaged.

Kaito stopped the bleeding and took a kit out of one of his many hiding places and handed it to Nakamori. He took the kit and began stitching the hole in my chest. It hurt like hell, but I didn't have the energy at the moment to protest more than a few grunts.

A few minutes later I was pulled to a standing position and propped on the wall next to Hattori. I wasn't sure what I'd missed, but it appeared that the fighting was over. I could see that Gin and Vodka were both dead but couldn't stand to look any more than that. It was making me sick.

"What h-happened?" The pain in my chest was making it somewhat difficult to talk but I didn't feel like I was drowning. The bullet must have missed my lungs, but I'd lost a lot of blood. My body was starting to go numb. I knew it wasn't a good sign, but I was almost grateful for it.

"Vermouth came back. From the looks of it sh' turned against 'em in th' fight. The boss and all the members are dead." He stopped and Nakamori took over from there.

"She came back and saw the standoff between the three of you and took a shot at Gin's head. He still had his gun on you so when the bullet impacted and killed him it triggered an automatic response and fired at you.

"There was a th-third shot?" I glanced at Kaito fearing the worst. I hoped that he hadn't actually taken a shot at anyone. He simply shook his head and I sighed in relief.

"There were actually two more shots. She turned her gun on Vodka, but he fired first. She managed to get a shot off at him as well. They killed each other." I was stunned. Everyone was dead. The organization was really gone.

"What about the others that came with us?" I couldn't feel anything anymore except a slight pull from the stitches when I breathed or moved. I didn't know if this was because Kaito slipped me something or if it was just from the blood loss.

"Later, we need to get out of here." Kaito made a move to leave, but I grabbed his arm.

"Please, I need to know how everything turned out." Again it was Nakamori who explained what had happened when I passed out.

"We lost Justin. Everyone else was given an evacuation order when the last were killed. You boys wait here for a moment and I'll go find a safe exit. There should be paramedics outside, but they have strict orders not to enter the building. We have to make it to them."

We simply nodded as he was walking away.

"Kudo…you've got ta promise me yer gonna stop gettin in these messes. If I keep comin home injured 'Zuha's gonna kill me."

"Sorry about that. I'll try to ignore possible criminal organizations in the future." All of us smiled a bit at the joking, I mean seriously, would I ever ignore a criminal organization?

It was only a few minutes before Nakamori came rushing back. I tried to meet him halfway but couldn't move too well.

"It's against my better judgment, but seeing as how we are going to have to get out of here, let me help you." I leaned heavily on Kaito for a moment until we met up with Nakamori.

"There's bombs…This place is full of them. They don't look very strong, but I don't want to be in here when they go off. Ten minutes is plenty of time for us to get out of here and evacuate the surrounding area as long as we can keep a steady pace."

"Define steady pace, Kudo can't even stand by himself." I was still leaning on Kaito, but not as much as I had been before hearing that there were bombs. My adrenaline was kicking in again.

"That could be a problem. The exit is on the other side of the building…"

The three of them looked at each other trying to come up with a plan to get me out. That was it, we were going to run out of time if we didn't get moving.

"Hello? I'm injured not dead. I think I can walk…I hope." I pushed myself of Kaito and began in the direction Nakamori had just come from.

"Nakamori-keibu, I don't know where I'm going so you better get up here and lead."

I wasn't really sure how long the adrenaline rush would last, but I was hoping for at least seven minutes. That is how long it would take to get out of here and evacuate everyone outside before this place exploded.


	31. Chapter 31

**_I don't own anything sadly..._**

_I wasn't really sure how long the adrenaline rush would last, but I was hoping for at least seven minutes. That is how long it would take to get out of here and evacuate everyone outside before this place exploded._

Nakamori and Kaito had taken the lead approximately two minutes ago, leaving us a mere five minutes to get us and everyone else away. We could see the exit now and the lights flashing from the ambulances outside. Almost there.

"Kudo-kun, Hattori-kun, we are going to go ahead and get everyone out of here. We'll see you outside in a few seconds." Nakamori was hesitant to go ahead, but we needed to make sure that everyone got out.

"How ya holdin up?" Hattori moved close enough for only me to hear.

"I've been better. I'm barely holding myself up and my vision has been swimming since we started walking, but we can't really stop now can we."

"Nope, we cain't. Ya want some help?"

I was hurt, but so was he. There was no way I was going to let him help me if it meant that it might slow him down. I didn't want it to be my fault if we both happened to get trapped in here.

"No, that's alright. Go ahead with Kaito and Nakamori and help them get everyone else out of here. I'll be right behind, I just need a second."

We made it to the door, but I didn't have any adrenaline left. I needed to stop for a moment. I leaned against the door frame and looked out. Everyone was gone except one ambulance and the car we came in. Nakamori and Kaito were standing with the EMT and pointing to where me and Hattori were standing, or in my case sliding down the door frame. How long did we have left? Two minutes, maybe less…

"Oh no ya don'!" He glanced behind him at something before grabbing me and pulling me to my feet. He started half dragging me towards the tree line.

"Nakamori-keibu! There's a timer here tha' says we got less than a minute! Get behind the trees now!"

I wasn't aware of much of anything except my feet dragging the ground when I missed a step.

"Hattori, get down now!" It was Kaito's voice this time.

I felt the blast. It was hard not to. Nakamori was right, the blast wasn't very strong, but it was enough to knock us off our feet. The shock from the blast sent us crashing to the ground. I could hear footsteps running somewhere but it was hard to tell from where.

"Hattori…we did it…they're gone…"

"Yeah, we did. Now be quiet would ya? Help is on th'way. Dammit, yer bleedin again!"

He was muttering more to himself than to me. I felt a hard pressure on my chest and let out a gasp before everything went black again…


	32. Chapter 32

"_Hattori…we did it…they're gone…"_

"_Yeah, we did. Now be quiet would ya? Help is on th'way. Dammit, yer bleedin again!" _

_He was muttering more to himself than to me. I felt a hard pressure on my chest and let out a gasp before everything went black again…_

Kaito's POV

Hattori yelled for us to take cover, so we did. He was half dragging Kudo to a safe spot when the bomb went off. It wasn't strong but it knocked them down. We Nakamori and the EMT immediately took off running towards the pair.

"Kaito, get the bed out of the ambulance, we need to get Kudo out of here now!"

I looked back over the scene once more before going to get the bed. Hattori was clutching his shoulder for a moment before switching his hands to Kudo's chest to apply pressure. The blast or maybe the fall must have busted the stiches.

There wasn't enough room in the ambulance for all of us so we followed behind them in Nakamori's car. As soon as we arrived Kudo was rushed to the operating room and we were asked to have a seat in the waiting room. The other officers who were on the raid were there as well getting treated for various injuries. Many came to sit in the waiting room with us for support.

Nurses were scurrying around the waiting room tending to the wounds of the other officers there. Hattori had been injured the worst next to Kudo, but he had found his jacket in Nakamori's car and was now wearing it to cover his wounds.

"Hattori, you should go have yourself checked out as well. You were seriously hurt as well. They will probably want to admit you."

"Later." His eyes hadn't left the OR door since we arrived.

"Hattori-kun, we won't leave him. There is nothing any of us can do now but wait. Go take care of yourself. It isn't an option."

He continued to stare at the door for a moment before sighing and getting up to walk to the nurses' station. I watched as they asked him several questions. He eventually just shrugged of his jacket revealing the blood and bandaging beneath. The nurse gasped and helped him onto a bed. That's right, helped. His wound was bothering him more than he wanted to show.

"How are you Kaito?"

"I'll be alright. A few scrapes and burns but nothing major…that's new anyway."

"I'm not just talking about physically. I saw your reaction to what happened."

"I'll be alright…"

Somehow he knew to stop and I was grateful for that.

"Kaito? Dad?"

That voice…Her voice. I'd never been happier to hear it in my life. Aoko…

"When did you get back? Weren't you supposed to be gone for a few more days?"

"This morning. Ran-chan insisted on coming back early. She said that she just had a feeling, and we come back here and we find you at a hospital? Where's Heiji-kun and Shinichi-kun?"

Only now did I take notice of everyone standing there. Mom and Jii looked relieved to see me alive, but Kazuha, Ran, and Kudo's parents all looked worried and impatient.

"Kudo and Hattori were both injured pretty badly. Hattori was admitted a bit ago. They should have him in his room now and he should be fine. Kudo is…" I couldn't even continue. I simply looked towards the operating room.

"I'm sorry, we won't know more about Kudo-kun's condition until they are finished. Kazuha-san, why don't you go see Hattori-kun? You should be able to get his room number from the nurses' station. Kaito why don't you take Aoko to get a drink. I'm sure you two need to talk. I'll wait here with Ran-san and the Kudo's."

I glanced at the OR door one more time wondering what would happen to my friend before taking off with Aoko and Kazuha went to find Heiji.


	33. Chapter 33

_I glanced at the OR door one more time wondering what would happen to my friend before taking off with Aoko and Kazuha went to find Heiji._

Heji's POV

By no means did I want to leave the waiting room, but I knew they were right. I was in bad shape. I went to the nurses' station only to have the nurse tell me that she had real emergencies to take care of. I insisted that I needed to be seen, but she insisted that whatever was wrong with me couldn't be as important as the injured police officers in the waiting room.

I grew tired of trying to convince her and finally just shrugged of my jacket. The shirt I had been wearing was long gone. It needed to be taken off when I was bandaged the first time. The blast had reopened my wound and it had been bleeding since and went through the bandages.

"Oh my! Nurse, bring that bed here and help me!"

I guess that was enough to get her attention. A bed was wheeled up next to me and the nurses' helped me onto it. I probably could have gotten on myself but what was the use in arguing? I'd finally gotten her to listen to me.

I was rushed to a room with several pieces of equipment scattered around. The nurse removed the bandages and gasped yet again at the wound.

"This is a bullet wound! Where were you to get shot at?"

"I was with the policemen in the waiting room when they went on the raid that put them all in here."

"You're too young. There is no way they would have let you be there."

"Whatever lady. If it ever makes the paper, ya can read about it then. 'Til then can ya just take care of this before I bleed to death?"

I wasn't trying to sound rude, but I was really not feeling well. She set back to work stitching up my shoulder before re-bandaging it again. She hooked up several monitors and an IV before telling me she would return shortly to check on me and telling me to try and get some rest.

"Thanks."

I was just dozing off several minutes after the nurse had left when the door flew open and a disheveled Kazuha rushed in.

"H-heiji, they told me you got shot! Are you okay?"

"'Zuha? Why are you…ummph….."

She jumped onto the bed and wrapped her arms around my neck in a tight hug.

"Zuha, can ya please loosen yer grip just a bit? Yer killin' me!"

"Ya idiot, if ya were gonna go runnin off inta something dangerous ya should've told me! We've all been worried sick and now we don' even know what's gonna happen ta Kudo!"

"Zuha, it was ta keep ya safe! It's because it was dangerous tha' I didn' tell ya!"

She stepped off the bed and stared at me for a moment before she lunged forward again and slapped me…hard. The force of the blow sent me reeling back and I hit my shoulder on the bed and let out a hiss of pain. I was stunned for a moment before turning back to her. There were tears in her eyes.

"He-heiji, I'm sorry. I-I wasn't thinkin'. I d-din't mean to…" The tears started falling.

"Zuha…I'm sorry…"

"W-what, I'm the one who hit you?"

"I made a promise to myself years ago to never make you cry. I hate seeing you cry…I promised myself that I would never do that to you so, I'm sorry…"

"Ya idiot. You did make me cry, but that's ok 'cause yer alright. As long as yer alright then it's okay. I just want to know why you guys wouldn't tell us what was going on."

"I'll tell you."

I spent the next hour or so explaining everything to Kazuha, including everything about Kid and Conan. I wasn't going to leave anything out or lie to Kazuha anymore…

After I finished the story she looked at me almost unbelieving.

"I would say that you were lying to me, but I don't think you are actually creative enough to come up with that weird of a lie, it must be true. Besides it explains a lot about that kid."

"Should I be insulted?"

She didn't reply to that question. She climbed up onto the bed, carefully this time, and lied beside me before falling asleep. I followed soon after.


	34. Chapter 34

Kaito's POV

I silently lead the way to the vending machines in the main lobby to get me and Aoko a drink. She didn't seem inclined to talk and I was afraid anything I said may send her in search of a mop. We stopped in front of the machines.

"What would you like to drink?"

She looked at the machine for a moment.

"I'll just an ice coffee, please."

I put enough money in for two. When they came down I handed one to her and took the other for myself. We made our way to a couple of empty seats in the corner away from anyone else. This was not going to be pleasant. We took our seats.

"Why?" It was such a simple question that could mean so many things, but I knew exactly what she meant. Why did you lie to me and why did my dad help you?

"Aoko, I promised myself after all this was over I would tell you the truth, but you may not like what you hear. Do not blame your father for any of this. Given his personality, he wasn't given a choice of what to do."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm Kaito Kid…"

I was ready for her to slap me in the face. What I was not ready for was a very forceful and very painful punch to my stomach right where some of my stiches were. Ran must have been teaching her some new moves. Most of my wounds were healed except the deep gash. I was sure she busted the stiches on it.

"What the hell are you talking about? We proved you innocent!"

I really wish I had more than just a thin shirt on. We had bullet proof vests on, but Kudo and Hattori's were abandoned in the building and Nakamori and I left ours in the car. Without anything on a small stain started to appear on my shirt. I tried to turn before she could see it. Too late…

"Kaito? What's that on your shirt?"

"Nothing, I just spilled a little coffee on it when you hit me." Like hell she was going to believe that!

"Kaito, I've had enough of your lies! Let me see." There wasn't any use arguing with her if I wanted to stay intact. So I turned so she could see the blood on my shirt.

"Oh my god…" She was quick. She was already tugging up my shirt before I even realized it. When she finally got it up she gasped and I could see tears in her eyes. It took me only seconds to bandage myself back up. Aoko didn't even notice until after I was in a new t-shirt. It wasn't really bad enough to need to be stitched up again, a simple bandage would do. Thank you Ai-chan.

"Kaito, all those wounds…You're Kid…You got some of those rescuing me didn't you? In that explosion…"

"Aoko, it wasn't your fault. We didn't plan for everything like we should have. I'm fine now."

"I want to know everything. I don't want you leaving anything out at all. I promise not to interrupt or judge you until I hear the full explanation."

I was so shocked that I almost fell out of my chair. Aoko had always hated Kid. To think that she would be willing to at least listen to what I wanted to tell her meant the world to me. I didn't waste any time at all. I told her everything about the organization and Kid.

When I finished I braced myself for her to start yelling or hitting me. I was even prepared for her to pull a mop out of thin air and beat me to death with it, but instead she hugged me…

"Aoko? Are you mad?"

"I'm furious…but I'm glad you're ok. I think I always knew that you were Kid. There were just too many similarities…So no I'm not mad that you're Kid, just that you lied to be about it."

"Do I still have chance at being your friend?"

"You will always be my friend no matter what."

Everything turned out so much better than I would have hoped. I'm sure I'll be on a short leash for a while and I know that she won't always trust me so easily but at least she doesn't hate me. That is all I was ever worried about.


	35. Chapter 35

_Everything turned out so much better than I would have hoped. I'm sure I'll be on a short leash for a while and I know that she won't always trust me so easily but at least she doesn't hate me. That is all I was ever worried about._

Kaito's POV

We sat in the waiting room for a few minutes just talking. Not about anything in particular, we just talked. After a while Aoko suggested we go back to the OR waiting room.

"Dad, have you heard anything yet?"

He just shook his head. It was taking what seemed like forever. Everyone was quiet. It wasn't surprising. Kudo was really the one who brought this into the open, he was a hero in a way. After what seemed like forever the doctor came out.

"Kudo Shinichi?"

The doctor was surprised at the number of people who stood. His parents were the only ones who actually stepped forward.

"Everyone here wants to hear about our son. Please speak loud enough for them to hear."

She was a brave woman. I hadn't seen her or her husband look more than a little worried. However to someone who was experienced in reading body language theirs screamed with apprehension.

"Um, ok. He suffered traumatic blood loss causing his body to begin to go into shock. However whoever applied first aid was simply amazing. It will be a long and hard recovery process, but we predict a full recovery."

There were cheers of relief heard throughout the waiting room. Ran fell back into her chair. The Kudo's hugged and let their relief wash over them.

"He can have visitors, but only family and only for a few minutes."

Ran stood, but made no move towards the room with the Kudo's. Yukiko looked back.

"Doctor, this girl is his girlfriend. Can she come as well?"

"Yes, but no more for now. Be quick, he needs his rest."

Ran looked almost dumbfounded for a moment, but didn't argue before following the Kudo's into the room.


	36. Chapter 36

_Ran looked almost dumbfounded for a moment, but didn't argue before following the Kudo's into the room. _

Shinichi's POV

If felt like there was a rock on my chest. I wasn't quite conscious, but everything was getting clearer. There were people in the room. Who were they? Where was I?

"Yusaku, Ran, he's waking up!"

My parents and…Ran…

I tried to sit up before being gently pushed back down by strong arms.

"Don't move son. You're in the hospital. The doctor said you would be fine, but you need to rest."

It all came back. I tensed.

"How's everyone else?"

"They are a little worse for wear, but they will be fine."

I relaxed back into the bed.

"Ran-chan, we are going to go back to the waiting room and tell the officers they can go home."

She nodded and goodbyes were said between us all. I knew they wouldn't be back until the next day. I was glad to see them, but I needed to talk to Ran. I was grateful they were giving me the opportunity.

"Ran."

"Don't, you need to rest."

"No , you need an explanation. I'll rest after you get one."

"You don't have to right now."

"No, but I want to. I'm tired of lying to you."

She was upset. I'd told her everything and I somewhat expected her to walk out the door and never want to see me again.

"I'm upset with you."

"I know…"

"But I'll forgive you on one condition."

I was stunned. She'd forgive me? Why? I didn't deserve it.

"Anything."

"Never leave me again. If you do, I'll never forgive you."

I looked at her. She was holding tears back.

"I promised myself that if by some miracle you forgave me then I'd never leave again. I promise."

She wrapped her arms around me and let her tears fall. It hurt, but I pulled her into the small bed and she lay beside me until we both went to sleep.


	37. Chapter 37

"_I promised myself that if by some miracle you forgave me then I'd never leave again. I promise."_

_She wrapped her arms around me and let her tears fall. It hurt, but I pulled her into the small bed and she lay beside me until we both went to sleep._

Kaito's POV

It had been a month since everything had happened. Kudo, Hattori, and myself were still being watched like hawks by the girls.

We'd gotten together several times to check up on each other and talk about what had happened. Everyone's wounds had pretty much healed. Kudo still had a little way to go. True to his word, Kid pulled one last heist to say goodbye to his fans.

"So Kid's really done?"

"Yeah, unless another syndicate surfaces that he needs to eradicate!"

Aoko punched my arm.

"Ow, what's that for?"

"Oh nothing. Just keeping a magician in his place."

Ran and Kazuha laughed. Kudo and Hattori were not so open, but their smirks said it all. We wouldn't be doing anything without the girls watching and questioning us, but we all agreed that it was better than loosing them.


End file.
